Mission to Mars

Legendary Man, Solid Vision. Often lost in the fact that Buzz Aldrin was on the first team to land on the moon and the second man to step foot on the moon is the fact that he actually had a PhD - from MIT no less - before that legendary accomplishment. Here, this former fighter pilot and lifelong engineer lays out a comprehensive vision to make humanity a dual planet species forevermore. Reading it several years after publication and just weeks before the 50th anniversary of his walk on the moon - an anniversary Aldrin repeatedly says would be a prime day for a definitive “We Choose To Go To The Moon” speech regarding Mars - it is interesting to see how this vision has been followed (or more accurately, not) over the last several years and how fiction (specifically, The Martian by Andy Weir) has actually hewed closer to Aldrin's vision than NASA or the various real-world space agencies and corporations have. Very highly recommended.