Yesterday the moon, tomorrow Mars
Updated on 20 July 2009
On the 40th anniversary of the first moon landings, two of the astronauts involved in the historic Apollo 11 mission say Mars is the next giant leap for mankind.
Today the Apollo 11 astronauts are at the White House meeting President Obama. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, told a Washington audience the feat was "the ultimate peaceful competition - USA v USSR".
The crew came together at a rare public reunion yesterday, with calls for a new space mission to Mars. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins agreed that Mars was the next giant leap for mankind.
Jon Snow spoke to the Astronomer Royal, Professor Martin Rees.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins set off from Earth on Nasa's Apollo 11 mission on July 16, 1969. The Eagle module landed on the moon's surface four days later, completing President John F Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, described his thoughts and experiences on landing on the moon's surface 40 years ago.
"What a lifeless sight- a lifeless scene that hasn't changed at all in hundreds and hundreds of years. Little things come in now and then and sometimes a big one makes a big crater but what we're looking at hasn't been disturbed by anything and it's been just like it is right now - lifeless, totally lifeless.
"This is not a very hospitable place - this is desolate. Magnificent desolation," he said.
On the eve of the anniversary the crew of the Apollo 11 mission spoke about the future of space exploration at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in the US.
First man on the moon Neil Armstrong gave a professorial lecture titled "Goddard, governance and geophysics," looking at the inventions and discoveries that led to his historic "small step for a man" in 1969.
Armstrong said the space race was "the ultimate peaceful competition" that allowed the USA and the U.S.S.R. "take the high road with the objectives of science and learning and exploration."
Aldrin and Collins said they believed Nasa should look further afield on future missions to space. Aldrin urged mankind to take a giant leap to Mars.
He said the best way to honour the Apollo astronauts "is to follow in our footsteps; to boldly go again on a new mission of exploration."
Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins, who circled the moon alone while Armstrong and Aldrin landed, said the moon was not interesting, but Mars is.
"Sometimes I think I flew to the wrong place. Mars was always my favourite as a kid and it still is today," Collins said. "Mars is the closest thing to Earth's sister that we found so far."
Nasa has unveiled plans for more manned missions to the moon but questions have been asked over what will they achieve 40 years on from the first lunar landing.
Today the three astronauts will get another chance to discuss their thoughts on Mars with President Barack Obama during a number of commemorative events.
