why in the world was aldrin acting crazy on the moving of all places. he knew of course the astronauts were out there, quote, euphorically enjoying what they were doing. the world was excited about the moon landing, imagine being the two guys that got to do it. in fact according to the flight plan right after the landing, armstrong and aldrin were scheduled for a five-hour nap and they told mission control they wanted to ditch the math. they didn't fly all the way to the moon in order to sleep. watching them coming he could think of nothing but please get back up the ladder and into the safety of the lunar module. they went up the ladder and showed that hatcheshutthe patcht moment of my life. it wasn't until quite a while later i reveled over the accomplishment. the anxiety is a time machine. it made it possible to leave those distinctive boot prints i was captured i remember the moment when i watched this video of these guys in the mission support control room and talking about the first moon walk because why wouldn't he be exuberant over what you had

why in the world was aldrin acting crazy? he knew the astronauts were out there euphoric lee enjoying what they were doing. the world was excited about the moon landing. imagine being the two guys who got to do it. in fact, according to the flightplan, right after the landing armstrong and aldrin were scheduled for a nap but they want to get out right away. they hadn't phone all the way to the moon to sleep. instead watching aldrin - around, sonny reihm could think of nothing but get back up the ladder and into the safety of the lunar module. they went back up the ladder, the happiest moment of my life. it wasn't until quite a while later that i reveled in the accomplishment. sonny reihm's anxiety is a time machine. it puts us back in the moments before anyone knew how the story would come out. it is a reminder of the mostly unsung men and women who made it possible for armstrong and altman to leave those blueprints at tranquility base. i was captured, i remember the moment i watched this video of these guys in the mission co

and i managed to get buzz aldrin to do a chapter in my book. the first human being to land on the moon. i'm a space geek from way back. so i too ask the question, when are we going to land on mars and frankly, why haven't we landed on mars yet? what i'm going to do in this talk. i have five points. first of all, i want to say a few things about what made apollo possible. because we're talking about why we haven't gone to mars yet. you understand how we were able to actually go to the moon. first of all, technology had developed at that - - to a point where we could seriously think about it. if you look at the science fiction writers, hg wells. a century before, the technology really wasn't there. by that time, thanks to robert goddard - - was working for the germans. we reached the point where we could technologically to that. the new york times published this stuff about how this not ball - - nutball says we can go to the moon. ha ha. in march i believe, then your time writes, ha ha, it only went 44 feet. what a crackpot. by the way, when apol

uzz buzz aldrin did a chapter in my book so i am a space geek from way back. so i asked the question why haven't we landed on mars yet. i have five points we're running a little bit late so i will go straight to the points so what made apollo possible because we talk about why we haven't gone to mars you have to understand how we could go to thego moon. so technology had developed to appoint where we seriously think about the science fiction writers. the technology wasn't there is very imaginative and reach the point and the interesting thing about goddard in the twenties the new york times told scurrilous stuff to go to the moon and half ha ha to launch the rockets. that was launched in 1926 and the new york times it only went 44 feet. and then i publish an apology but then anyway there was a vision of the american thinking of doing great things and those who are thinking in the innovative way. they were not all harvard graduates who just loved engineering and tech and wanted to do something great and signing off. we have a free society i was mentioning that

i got buzz aldrin to do a first chapter in my book the first human being to land on the moon and has a chapter here in my book. i am a space geek from way back and so, i also ask the question when are we going to land on mars in why haven't we landed on mars yet. what made apollo possible because we talk about how we haven't gone to mars yet and you have to understand how we were able to go to the moon. first of all technology have developed to a point where we would seriously think about it if you look at the science fiction writers before the technology wasn't there it was very imaginative and by that time thanks to robert goddard working for the germans and for the american industry we reached the point we could technologically do that. there was this stuff about how that's not paul says we can go to the moon, ha ha. the fuel rocket ride there was launched in 1926 and march i believe and there were times like it wen this when only 44 ft a crackpot. by the way, when apollo was going to the moon they published an apology around the goddard space flight center. there was a vision and

buzz aldrin says a mars shot i think maybe we need an earth shot for climate change to take care of our planet. [applause] but as you mentioned sputnik all of this was born out of sputnik going to the moon because the soviets surprised us cia knew they were doing a satellite but once it happened and was successful the whole world was swooning russia and we were caught flat footed. and his politics go, johnson and others like scoop jackson saw an opening to start slamming eisenhower to be asleep at the wheel and kennedy runs on the space cap and the missile gap with the soviets so much so that when he runs against nixon he wins the nomination and 60 looking back at the debates there is an incredible couple of scenes were kennedy scores real points against nixon when he says in the famous kitchen debate that we have colored tv and we are more advanced than russia but i will take my tv in black and white i want to be number one in rocket thrust. [laughter] then in another moment kennedy said if eisenhower and nixon policies continue i see a soviet flag planted on the moon i want to see an

there is a direct lineage from 1969, july, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin. by the end of 69 walter concrete could sit on new year's day and tell cbs we are making 1970 the year of earth. behind cbs nightly news was the earthrise photo as the bumper. walter cronkite showing that. cronkite made the first earth day in 1970, a major national event. the media could make a difference when they were bringing cameras all over earth day so much so that by the end of that year nixon was forced to create the environmental protection agency in 1970. the mayor of california, the counterculture adopted different things from going into space and you got the whole earth catalog and like many of today's entrepreneurs like steve jobs or jeff bezos, they are all about the moon. apollo had a big effect on a certain group of tech people. that is why many of them are trying to get into space as an occupation or financial investment. they are into it. >> host: you brought us back to earth from taking us to the moon and back, thank you, douglas brinkley. [applause] >> host: by the

>> guest: he will be 89 on halloween command does aldrin turned 89 recently. i think that kind of says it all. it speaks to the human need and all to explore to find out what is over the next hill. >> host: did he ever express regret being the guy that had to drive a ship around the moon while his two friends -- >> guest: he was a gentleman and never complained. of course he said once or twice in his book carrying the fire which is the best astronaut autobiography of course these were alpha males and everybody erwanted to be highest and fastt and of course he wanted to be able to walk on the moon but he was a team player and was happy to be part of the first crew. >> host: show in new york city please go ahead with your question for the author jim donovan. >> caller: good evening and welcome. i am a proud trojan alumni and special that you are discussing the moon, because the warm strong did his graduate work. with that, i will ask you i was pretty upset to learn that there isn't a celebration in washington for the public regarding the 50th anniversary of the

buzz aldrin just turned 89. neil armstrong has been gone for a few years. michael collins is a wonderful gentleman, very thoughtful. speaking of our future in space, he said people will go when they are able to go and i think that says it all. it speaks to the human needs, the human yearning to find out what is over the next hill, the next valley, on the next world. >> host: did he ever express regret being the guy who had to drive the ship around the moon while his two friends -- >> guest: he was a gentleman, he never complains. he said once or twice in his book carrying the fire, which is probably the best astronaut autobiography, these were alpha males and everybody wanted to be highest and fastest so of course he wanted to walk on the moon but he was a team player. he was happy to be part of the first crew. >> host: joe in new york city, go ahead with your question for james donovan and his book "shoot for the moon: the space race and the extraordinary voyage of apollo 11". >> caller: thank you. good evening and welcome to usc. i'm a proud trojan alumni

yesterday, hot off the press for those of you watching on c-span, that was july 19, he met with buzz aldrin who walked on the moon during that first walk and mike collins who was in the command module and during that little money, he turned the nasa administrator and said is there anyway we can go tomars directly ? why did he say that? part of the plan of going back to the moon and on to mars was going to do a moon base verse and then do a lunar gateway, this will be like a space station in lunar orbit, like a gas station for going to mars which makes no economic or, doesn't make any sense. you don't really need to have one of these things, it's just wasting a lot of money so your point, you want to go to mars. the point is this. why have we gone to mars and done some of these other things? since the first moon landing this is our government bureaucracies work and this is what politics does, there's no way to get away from it. if that stuff in their district, other priorities. this is what happens when the government is involved. they can do something like landing men on the moon in april m

they get to the moon what's interesting and this is something i have to talk to if i can get buzz aldrin who's got a chapter in my book, the advocate the idea of a cycle or, that's the idea that you basically have a spaceship that goes out to the moon and then gravity swing back to the earth, then stops and gravity swing back to the moon and going like that and he says that would be a cheaper way of setting up eventually a cycle or and then all you have to do is mediate and he set up one for mars two, the martone is a little more difficult to do but what's interesting is the israeli one sort of use that concept because what it did was it started off in earth orbit and then kind of went out like this and out like this and finally low down when it got to the moon and went into lunar orbit so there's a lot of innovative stuff that israel did on this and it's going to become an international thing and we're going to have competitors. i don't know if the threat of china is going to be big enough to push the government but we don't necessarily want the government to be going back to mars. bezo

judy was over there helping buzz aldrin when he suited up. enter friend anne montgomery. -- and her friend and mcelmurry -- we were sprinkled around and yet somehow or another we were part of the team. apollo 11 was just such a great, great team, and so unified. and i think one of the most inspiring things to me in watching, and every time i see it again, the lending itself, i think of not only -- the landing itself, i think of not only our country unified, but the planet. cared. i remember watching the landing with my husband. i was on holiday in the gulf of mexico with him. and we saw the views from rother cronkite -- all around the world people caring so much. i thought it was wonderful. and that launch launched my career. it was my first launch. i had been there working on propellant loads and other activities, but they did not let me sit there at liftoff. there was always a man at that console. my boss went to bat and got permission for me to sit there. and all of a sudden it made a difference. i got seen by everybody. "well, she has bee

inllo eight flew to the moon december 1960 eight and neil armstrong and buzz aldrin took the first steps1969, july. all those astronauts plus every other one who traveled to the moon, all trained here in flagstaff, and they learned geology, tested instruments, they also learned about reading maps, and that was something important done here at the observatory with the telescope. the mapping was the critical thing lowell was involved with and preparing to go to the moon. but the telescope was involved in another way. in 1962, the second group of astronauts were named. you had the mercury seven that flew up in the mercury flights, just showing we could get into space. alan shepard was the first american in space. he rode for 15 minutes and came down. from 1962, the second group came along and when they came on, jean shoemaker here -- here from nasa, he said, if we are going to plan to send people to the moon, we should do more than just plan a flight and come back, we should do science. what better way to learn about the origins of our planet and who we are, then by studying another body in

. >> buzz aldrin will wear me out if we don't get ourselves to mars as soon as we can. >> all right, thank you. i'm glad to hear that. all right. number two, dr. foster, who is up here talking about argon and illinois and all that stuff, he is one of the most biased co-chairs in favor of his state that any of us could ever have. and as you know and i appreciate the visits that you all have made out to the national renewable energy lab, which is in my district and obviously very proud of that, and i think some of the words you've used, i think we've got to really take heart and i'm going to lay into you guys a little bit because you used words like brilliant, capable, outstanding staff. you're scientists, your technicians you're engineers. second to none in the world, okay, and you as the chief executive, you as the lieutenant, the cfo here, you've got a staff that's fantastic, and if you were back as governor of texas and you say to that staff, you know what, i'm going to cut your budget by 85%, that's what you guys mean to me. i mean, when you say that, it hurts, and so ms. lofgren