On July 16, 1969, the "Apollo 11" moon landing spacecraft carrying three astronauts entered space. After four days of navigation, exactly 31 years ago today, the two astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin first landed on the moon. In order to commemorate the "moon landing", Phoenix TV Chinese Channel reporter Xu Gehui interviewed Aldrin, who is now 70 years old. "One small step for me, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong's famous saying has excited hundreds of millions of people, but who knows what will happen if this step is not taken successfully? Currently, some scientists have questioned the authenticity of the moon landing 31 years ago, and believe that the most accurate answer will be given by history. So, now we are more interested in hearing what Aldrin has to say.
I didn’t know that the eulogy had been written before setting off
“These brave people came here and broke its peace, but in the end they had to die in peace. They knew that they had They lost the chance of survival, but they also knew that this sacrifice would bring new hope to the entire human race." This is the gist of the eulogy written by the U.S. government for the astronauts who set off before the moon landing.
Reporter: The Los Angeles Times disclosed that before the Apollo 11 moon landing, the US government was prepared for the worst. President Nixon even asked someone to write a eulogy in case of emergency. Do you know this?
Aldrin (hereinafter referred to as "O"): No, I didn't know in advance. But I don't think we need to know. We don't dwell on misfortune, but remain optimistic about getting things done. We will not worry unnecessarily, because it will only deepen our fear, and fear will narrow our vision and even damage our performance. The person who prepared the eulogy was a well-known person and I spoke to him.
The Road from the Earth to the Moon
Aldrin said that the first human landing on the moon was not as romantic as everyone imagined.
Reporter: How did you feel when you took your first step on the moon? Is everything what you expected?
Ao: It’s similar to what I expected. The sky was as dark as velvet, setting off the moon that was dazzlingly illuminated by the sun. It was dark, and the arc of the horizon extended forward. It is very easy to move, but in slow motion because of the small gravity and because the spacesuit limits our flexibility. It is very difficult to reconstruct the picture now.
Reporter: Can you tell me, what were you thinking about during the ten-second countdown before Apollo 11 took off?
O: I can’t remember what I was thinking at the time. We go through those things, calmly carry out the procedures, and just hope that everything goes well. I think the most important thing is to be as alert as possible and observe everything that is going on. Hope everything goes well.
Who said the Great Wall can be seen on the moon
There has always been a saying that there is only one artificial structure on earth that can be seen with the naked eye on the moon, and that is the Great Wall of China. That was a misunderstanding, Aldrin said.
Reporter: What does it look like to see the Earth from the moon? How did you feel?
O: It’s not easy to see the Earth because it’s right above your head, and our masks don’t allow us to look up. We can only tell from a fleeting glance that she is there. Suffice it to say, while people wanted to ask us how we felt, our mission there was not to come back and tell people how we felt. We were sent there to work, to carry out expeditions, to pave the way for those who came after us.
Reporter: Can you really see the Great Wall from the moon?
Ao: I can tell all Chinese people that the Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon. That was caused by misunderstandings on TV dialogues and people's ignorance of the facts. The Great Wall is narrow and irregular, and irregularities are difficult to see from the track. If it is a wide straight road from the airport to the city, it will be easier to see than the irregular Great Wall. Unless you can see a hair 2.88 kilometers away with the naked eye, it is possible to see the Great Wall on the moon.
Mars is more suitable for human habitation than the moon
Exploring outer space has long been a dream of mankind. The increasingly crowded and deteriorating environment forces people to look to neighboring planets again and again.
Reporter: Is there possible life on the moon?
Ao: No...
Reporter: So what about Mars?
Ao: It's possible... There may have been life on Mars tens of millions of years ago. It's hard to say.
Reporter: Can you predict when people will set foot on Mars?
O: If the government does what I think it should do, I can predict it. Make a plan, then implement it and improve it from time to time. But we haven't done that yet, neither the space program nor NASA. If anything, I think we'll be able to land on Mars in twenty years.
Reporter: One of the important purposes of landing on the moon is to find places beyond the earth that can be habitable. Do you think the moon is worth exploring and developing as a place for human colonization?
Ao: Thousands of years in the future, humans will create many, many unimaginable things. To a certain extent, a responsible civilized society should ensure that this civilization can continue to survive. The moon is one of the possible places for humans to live, but Mars is more suitable because it is more like the earth than the moon. Therefore, Mars is an ideal choice to set up a location for human immigration.
Reporter: What do you think is the real significance of sending humans to the moon in a spacecraft?
O: The day I came back from the moon, I saw the replay on TV. I realized that the basic purpose of going to the moon was not the stones we brought back, nor the words of fear, joy, etc. we said at the time, but that people on earth witnessed this pioneering feat. All this has a positive impact on their lives.
Buzz Aldrin was born on January 20, 1930. He joined the Air Force in 1952 and later became the commander of an Air Force base in Nevada. At MIT he completed his doctoral thesis in astronautics. In 1963 he was selected as an astronaut by NASA. In July 1969, American astronauts Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins flew to the moon. According to official news from the United States, Aldrin and Armstrong became the first people to leave human footprints on the moon. They explored the moon and collected rocks, and the next day they met Collins 60 meters above the lunar module orbit. After retiring from the Air Force in 1972, Aldrin entered the business world. Regarding his experience in lunar space, he published two works, "Return to Earth" and "Man from Earth". Recently he also published a science fiction novel about the moon and is committed to helping ordinary people travel into space and realize their space dreams.