Zoey interviews Buzz Aldrin
Zoey interviews Buzz Aldrin at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC, on September 5, 2015
Details
Crop / Trim
Thumbnail
Loading candidatesβ¦
Transcript (english)
Okay, Zoe, favorite. What is your favorite thing about space? Go in there. Go in there. There's not many people who've been there. It's nice to do something that other people haven't done. But I do not want to do dangerous things. You want to do successful things and if it's new and different, there may be some things where something could go wrong. So you want to be prepared. This is a trueism and you need to remember it. Prior as before. Prior planning prevents poor performance. Four P's. Prior planning. Revenge. Notice five. Space is something you've got to plan. Scared. Were you a little scared about going going to the moon or coming? Again? Because nobody has been there before. But people had gone up and down without staying in orbit. People, dogs and monkeys. People. Russian, Yuri Gagarin. Then we done a lot of things, but we hadn't really sent people to the moon. So we did send people and they went around the moon. Then we sent people another group to go around the moon and then practice everything but landing. And then a very fortunate person. Many things going right in my life gave Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, Buzz Alder, the opportunity to make an attempt to make the first landing. And all of us won the succeed and we did. And that's why I'm here. That's one of the reasons I'm here. Because I had the curiosity to want to tell people what it was like. And so I've written several books with someone else about what I've done and some children's books to help inspire. And now we've come to welcome youth and others who read this book. Welcome to thinking, understanding, imagining what it might be like. To get to Mars and then have somebody tell you all the things that are there that you didn't know. And these are books and books inspire and get interest in people. That way, fast. Did it feel like the rocket was fast when it took off? It was very surprising that it was so gentle leaving us. And it was a very smooth, slow rocket going up. And once we were in space, then we were floating around. But in getting there, the rocket goes faster and faster. And we're sort of pushed back and it's out. But the rocket sometimes doesn't work. And that's a very dangerous part. So when that part is behind us, then we have successfully gotten this far. But there are always things that can happen. We're on. But we are optimistic. And so are the people that built this. And that's good to have them really optimistic about what has been built. Now, would you like to have somebody that gives you something know that when you pick it up and do something, is that a break? They test things. Flying. What else do you want to know? Flying. What's it like? What's it like being in space with no gravity? Do you feel like you're flying? There is a, you would think that there is emotion, a movement when you look out the window. But it looks like the earth is movement and you're just it's like being high in airplane, but much, much higher. And you're floating because there's no gravity. But that's just a description. There is gravity all the way out to the moon and beyond. Well, keeps the moon there, gravity. There's gravity. But it is, gravity is making us fall. But we've got motion, so that makes us move this way. He swings something on the end of a string and it's going to keep the string thought. So that's what keeps us in orbit. With gravity, it's balanced and it's floating. And I'm a diver, a scuba diver. And when you get down underneath the water, you're floating. That's just like in space. And for this part, it starts to move. I know you make waves or it's not quite the same as coating. We're fun out there. But that doesn't mean I like to see the fish. Long time. Why has nobody been to the moon in such a long time? That's not an eight-year-old's question. That's my question. I want to know, but I think I know. Because we didn't go there. And that's the way it happened. And if it didn't happen, it's nice to know why it didn't happen. So in the future, if we want to keep doing something, we need to know why something stopped in the past that we wanted to keep going. Money is a good thing. If you want to buy new things, new rockets, instead of keep doing the same thing over, then it's going to cost more money. And other things need more money, too. So having achieved what the President wanted us to do. And then what thousands, millions of people. In America, and millions of people around the world. You know, when we toured around the world after we came back, the most fascinating observation, as we were signs that said, we did it. Not just us, not just America. But we, the world, different country, they felt like they were part of what we were able to do. And that made us feel very good. Home. What would it be like to have a home on the moon or ours? A home where? On the moon or ours. Yes. I wouldn't want to have a home. I might want to stay on the moon for maybe six months. But it's fairly easy to come back to Earth from the moon. If something goes wrong, then you'd like to get back into orbit and to orbit to come back. It's much easier to come back from the moon. So why don't we do the same thing with the space station? We go up there and people stay for six months a year. That's what we'll probably do at the moon. Now somebody comes back and he may help train other people. He may go back and do it again. But it is not a good place to stay. There's no air. And it gets very hot in the daytime on the moon. Because the daytime when the sun appears to go up. That takes 13, 14 days. And it gets very hot. And then the sun disappears. Now that's not what really happens. What really happens is that you're going around the Earth and you're at some place and you're looking back at the Earth. But the sun is out here. And it's going to be cold. Very cold for 14 days because no sun at all. And no air to keep you warm. And no air to breathe. Not much water. You're up water and soil. Kind of hard to grow things. So it's really hard to do things other than being a space suit. Go outside and then come back in to a pressurized home. Not a space grab but something that's bigger. So we'll do that. But it's not going to be as useful and as easy to get back if we're at Mars. Much more difficult. Much more expensive. And way in the future, when you're as old as I am, we may want to be thinking about a growing number of people. And if you keep bringing people back, you're not going to be having a growing civilization. So that's kind of the ultimate goal of what will they do. Well, we have to keep interesting the people who are paying the bills. Or they won't keep paying the bills. So it has to be a growing knowledge. Important. Why do you think going to Mars is important? It's because there's a mountain. We want to climb the mountain and see what's on the other side. Curiosity. You see something and you like, what makes it work that way? And we want to know what it would be like to live somewhere. Well, we have to send robots, machines, and learn all about what's there before we send people. And then if we send people and bring them back, it's a long way is there. And it's a long way is back and it's expensive. So if people would like to go there and maybe begin to build up a new settlement like the pilgrims and the Mayflower, that ship, they want to plim a Throck. Know that in history. Yeah. Not yet. First grade. Not yet. But they came over here on the ship and they landed. But they didn't go back. They came here to settle to make friends with the Indians. That took a while. And six. What did you want to be when you were six? What did I want to... What did you want to be when you were six? When I was six, why I thought you were eight? Six. Instead of walking to school, I wanted to maybe be able to drive to school. Instead of getting on the bus, we played ball. I wanted to maybe be a sport. Ball player, maybe football player. Somebody could run fast. I wanted to do sports. And really, whether I liked it or not, I had to go to school. Because I'd do it in the school. Learning more and more. And grades go from kindergarten to first to second to third. Because they get more and more difficult because we can absorb ball. And pretty soon, there's college. And you learn all about lots of things. And hope that you can get that much education. Because that education will help you live a comfortable life. You may not focus on the mood, you may not go to the bars. Education was very, very important. And everything I was able to do. And I keep becoming educated by listening to other people. Reading books, that's the best way to find out somebody who's written an interesting book. That's why you came here to listen to me because I wrote an interesting book. How do you know it's interesting? Because somebody selected that book. They must know what they're talking about. You gotta rely on other people to help you, your parents. Bring out. Don't make sure you go to school. That's right. And don't come home. Because they got other things to do at home. You're at school. What do you think, honey? You gotta see what people say and see if it's funny and then laugh. I try and see a lot of funny things. But somebody says, I'm tired. Don't mean them. That's how I say. Thank you. You very, very welcome.