Free Mission to Mars by Buzz Aldrin Page B

11 was historic, but it was fraught with risks. When we finally set the
Eagle
lander down, with Neil piloting and me calling out descent numbers for him, we had only an estimated 16 seconds of fuel left in the descent stage. On the surface,
if
we had fallen and torn a suit, there wasn’t much chance of survival.
If
the one ascent engine didn’t ignite or
if
the onboard computer had a glitch, we would never have left the moon.
If
the rendezvous with Mike Collins, circling the moon in the command module, hadn’t gone flawlessly, we then would have faced rather nasty consequences. That’s just a few of a string of “
if
s.”

    Buzz Aldrin deploys exploratory technologies on the moon’s surface
.
    ( Illustration Credit 4.3 )
    I note that, in recent years, a document has surfaced that was authored by William Safire, then President Nixon’s speechwriter, about our Apollo moon mission. It was written, I suppose, in the spirit of considering what if the “if factor” did not work in our favor.
    In a July 18, 1969, statement to White House official H. R. Haldeman, Safire titled his internal White House essay “In Event of Moon Disaster” and included this ominous phrasing: “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.”
    Calling us brave men, the speech went on to acknowledge that Armstrong and Aldrin know that “there is no hope for their recovery.” “In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations,” the statement continued. “In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.”
    The Safire document added: “In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.”
    As odd a statement as that sounds today, it didn’t surprise me to read it. Speechwriters prepare remarks for all sorts of hypothetical events. Senior officials must always be prepared with remarks for breakthroughs as well as tragedies. Apollo 11 had the potential to fit into either one of those categories. Reading the prepared eulogy, I am proud to say that our mission accomplished the same goals—and brought us back home safely.
    Apollo was built on the proficiency and professionalism of thousands of dedicated Americans. It was also built on faith and a national commitment.
    By the way, while Neil was the first human to step onto the moon, I’m the first alien from another world to enter a spacecraft that was going to Earth.
A Different Place
    The moon is a different place since I traveled there in 1969.
    First of all, take your own longing look at the moon in the evening sky. It is obvious that Earth’s moon is a celestial body with a story to tell. It has the scars to prove it—a cratered, battered, and beat-up world that is a witness plate to 4.5 billion years of violent processes that showcase the evolution of our solar system.
    Thanks to a fleet of robotic probes recently sent to the moon by several countries, there’s verification that the moon is a mother lode of useful materials. Furthermore, the moon appears to be chemically active and has a full-fledged water cycle. Simply put, it’s a wet moon.
    New data on our old, time-weathered moon points to water there in the form of mostly pure ice crystals in some places. For example, sunlight-starved craters at the poles of the moon—called “cold traps”—have a unique environment that can harbor water ice deposits. Gaining access to this resource of water is a step toward using it for life support to sustain human explorers. Similarly, the moon is rife with hydrogen gas, ammonia, and methane, all of which can be converted to rocket propellant.
    Fresh findings about the moon from spacecraft have revealed the lunar poles to be lively, exciting places filled with complex volatiles, unique physics, and odd chemistry, all available at supercoldtemperatures. Recently,