LETTERS OF NOTE: FLY INTO SPACE FOR YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY

Who, with Neil Armstrong, was one of the first men on the moon on July 21, 1969, wrote this note to a University of Maryland professor, Barry Goldman, in September 1997

Dear Mr Goldman, I am writing to you to share some of my personal ideas and thoughts about my experiences related to the moon landing.

I have often described the moon as a “magnificent desolation”. Its rocky horizon curved against the deep black of space, making it perfectly obvious that we were standing on a ball spinning through the universe.

When I planted the American flag on the dusty surface of the moon, I had an unusual thought: A billion people were watching me on television. Human beings had never been farther away than we were, nor had more people thinking about them!

I think the spirit and the sense of involvement exhibited by the numbers of people who remember where they were when that event happened make it even more apparent that the moonwalk added value to the lives of all the people who participated in it. Every person felt good about the nation achieving it – that the world, that humanity could have done this.

I have snapshots of myself on the moon that will always remind me of that strange and fascinating place. Some day in the future, as people are mulling over their vacation plans, I hope they’ll choose to fly into space. It’s the trip of a lifetime.

Regarding your questions of space exploration in 50 years: All of the rationales reduce to one simple truth – we will walk on Mars in the spirit and wonder that sets our species apart. • Sincerely, Buzz Aldrin Apollo XI PS: Ad Astra Via Mars From the website Letters of Note