14 DAY TRIAL // Buzz Aldrin, the second person to lay foot on lunar soil after Neil Armstrong, in 1969, has shared his opinion on the future manned missions to Mars. In his acceptance, the distance and the time it takes to get to the red planet make it highly unprofitable to send manned missions back and forth. He compares this groundbreaking endeavor with that of the first American colonists coming from Europe with no hope of ever returning to their former homes.
In his interview with the AFP, Aldrin stated that our red neighbor offered much more attractive conditions for habitability than our natural satellite, since Mars “is nearer terrestrial conditions, much better than the Moon and any other place. It is easier to subsist, to provide the support needed for people there than on the Moon.” Still, the Moon is only 380,000 km (238,000 miles) away, while the distance to Mars changes in report to its own and Earth's position on their orbits, ranging from 55 million to over 400 million km (34 million to 250 million miles).
The smallest distance would still take at least one and a half year to cross, with double the time in the case of a trip back home. This is just one of the arguments that some theorists make use of against the whole Mars colonization idea. Others involve the psychological, physical and environmental adaptation issues (like the frustration caused by the fact that there's no way to return home, or the threat posed by cosmic radiation to human DNA), as well as the higher report between cost and efficiency, when compared with unmanned missions that provide better results.
In reaction to these, Aldrin states that robotic devices are not able to make the instant decisions that may be required during such a mission, especially given the time it takes for a message to reach its destination when sent from either of the 2 planets towards the other. Moreover, he sees the 3-year travel time as another reason for missions with a more permanent character. “If we are going to put a few people down there and ensure their appropriate safety, would you then go through all that trouble and then bring them back immediately, after a year, a year and a half?” he asks.