Second man on moon Buzz Aldrin implores world to step up efforts to colonise Mars, in Reddit AMA Q and A session

BUZZ Aldrin says aliens exist, Sandra Bullock deserved an Oscar and we need to get to Mars. Oh, and his mum’s maiden name is awesome.

THE second man to ever walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, has implored the world to step up its efforts to colonise Mars.

The world’s most famous living astronaut, whose real name is Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, participated in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) question-and-answer session with online bulletin board site Reddit.

Mr Aldrin, who likes to be referred to as a “global space statesman”, lent his support to people who are keen to see mankind take its next giant leap.

“There is very little doubt, in my mind, that what the next monumental achievement of humanity will be the first landing by an Earthling, a human being, on the planet Mars,” he said.

“And I expect that within two decades of the 50th anniversary of the first landing on the moon … America will lead an international presence on Planet Mars.”

During the Q and A, Mr Aldrin revealed that his mother’s maiden name was Moon, and also shared his views on the taste of space food (“generally pleasant”), people who say the moon landing was faked (“I personally don’t waste very much of my time on what is so obvious to a really thinking person”), the existence of aliens (“the probability is almost certain that there is life somewhere in space”) and his favourite music (“the soft singing voice of Karen Carpenter”).

Oh, and his favourite flavour of ice cream is coconut.

Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969. Photo: NASA

Mr Aldrin said humans could establish habitations and laboratories on the surface of Mars by building them on the planet’s nearby moons.

He said tourism trips to Mars were inappropriate and shared his conviction that “the first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth”.

“They should be the beginning of a build-up of a colony/settlement. I call it a ‘permanence’: A settlement you can visit once or twice, come back, and then decide you want to settle,” he said.

When asked about his favourite music, Mr Aldrin steered the conversation back to the red planet.

“I have heard Frank Sinatra sing Fly me to the Moon almost too many times. So I’m interested in composing a new song, entitled Get your ass to Mars!” he said.

Give that woman an Oscar … Sandra Bullock in <i>Gravity</i>.

When asked what his favourite space movie was, he elected 2001: A Space Odyssey, but he also praised last year’s thriller Gravity.

“The depiction of people moving around in zero gravity was really the best I have seen,” Mr Aldrin said.

“The freefalling, the actions that took place between two people, were very, I think, exaggerated, but probably bent the laws of physics. But to a person who’s been in space, we would cringe looking at something that we hoped would NEVER, EVER happen.

“It’s very thrilling for the person who’s never been there, because it portrays the hazards, the dangers that could come about if things begin to go wrong, and I think that as I came out of that movie, I said to myself and others, ‘Sandra Bullock deserves an Oscar’.”

Buzz Aldrin in now 84. Picture: Stewart Allen

When asked about the historic moon landing of 1969, Mr Aldrin said his first impression of the moon was of “magnificent desolation”.

“There is no place on earth as desolate as what I was viewing in those first moments on the lunar surface,” he said.

“Because I realised what I was looking at, towards the horizon and in every direction, had not changed in hundreds, thousands of years. Beyond me, I could see the moon curving away — no atmosphere, black sky. Cold. Colder than anyone could experience on Earth when the sun is up- but when the sun is up for 14 days, it gets very, very hot. No sign of life whatsoever.”

Since returning to Earth, Mr Aldrin has not been publicity shy, having appeared as himself on The Simpsons, Dancing With the Stars, The Big Bang Theory and 30 Rock, where he cursed at the moon “I walked on your FACE!”.

The Q-and-A was held to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the moon landing, which falls on July 20.

US astronaut Buzz Aldrin before the 1969 moon landing. Picture: AFP