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in particular was John C. Houbolt, a little-known engineer at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, who came up with a daring and ingenious alternative to fly to the moon. It was 1961, and NASA officials were debating two approaches: launching two Saturn V rockets to rendezvous in Earth orbit, versus using one direct rocket to take us there. John’s idea was to send two spacecraft, and to rendezvous at the moon. Initially, John’s idea struck many people—myself included—as dangerously complex, even bizarre. But Houbolt stubbornly kept pushing his plan, and thanks to his persistence, that is how Neil Armstrong and I walked on the moon and then were able to rendezvous with Mike Collins in the Columbia orbiting the moon above us to come home to Earth.

We need some men and women like John Houbolt today, individuals who can learn from the past, and then devise new ways of taking us into the future.

MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION? Maybe so, but over the years, I’ve been able to fill in a good many of the craters in my life. What a great life I’ve had! Schools are named for me in Virginia and Illinois. Planetariums bear my name. I’ve written nonfiction books, novels, and scientific papers, and worked on screenplay treatments. A music award still bears my likeness, and a popular toy character with my name inspired an animated film series and a ride at Disney World. I was an ace fighter pilot in the Korean war, earned a doctorate from MIT, and, oh yes, I was the second man in the history of the human species to set foot on a celestial body other than Earth. I feel that I’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit in my short time on this planet, and I’m not done yet!

Oh sure, I still get frustrated at times because I am a visionary often stymied by a bureaucratic maze. But I keep a forward-leaning attitude, looking up the road, always wanting to do something for the betterment of America’s space program.

My fellow moonwalker Alan Bean says:

Buzz is the only astronaut, the number-one person, who is still trying to help NASA do their missions better. No other astronaut is doing that. Many are running boards, sitting on panels, etcetera, but when you want to talk about ideas, how to do something, how to go to Mars, how to cycle back and forth, how to get a rocket to travel to the space station, nobody phones me up and says, “Here’s an idea for something we could do better at NASA.” Nobody but Buzz. I’m trying to figure out which color to use on my new painting, but Buzz is trying to help the country and the world. Buzz has the good ideas. He just needs somebody to understand them and get them into the right hands. If you are working on anything to do with space, and you don’t talk with Buzz, you are making a huge mistake. Buzz doesn’t give up, and thank God he doesn’t.16

When I finished my doctoral thesis at MIT on the subject of orbital rendezvous, I dedicated it “To the crew members of this country’s present and future manned space programs. If only I could join them in their exciting endeavors!” For nearly half a century now, I have been one of them; I’m known as an astronaut, and I am still thrilled with that designation. But I don’t want to live in the past; as long as I am here on Earth, I want to be contributing to the present, and I want to stride confidently into the future.

I believe mankind must explore or expire. We must venture outward. And one way or another, when men and women first set foot on Mars, I will be there, whether watching on my flat-screen television in my Los Angeles home, or looking down from the stars.

16 Interview with the author, November 17, 2008.

A Note About ShareSpace

Everyone Needs Space—ShareSpace Foundation

I am often asked to describe why I founded the nonprofit Share-Space—what my vision is for the organization, and what I hope to accomplish through it. The essence of my plan involves three key areas: exploration, experiences, and education.

Exploration. Lunar Renaissance.

To enhance public understanding of the benefits of past exploration and the expected benefits