Buzz Aldrin: Mars pioneers should stay there

Earth should ease on its habit to control everything!
Probably people that want to go to stay on Mars really exist and if we go to all that trouble to bring them back, who can guarantee that we will be willing and able repeat that effort to send people again back to Mars.

Boy I never thought a day would dawn that I would be able to say this!

Chances are 100% that space colonization will begin if people never return from Mars than the other way around. The unfortunate thing is that for many decades anyone will still have to rely on mother earth until the technological advancements eventually appear that will make a space colony entirely autonomous even for launching a space program entirely of their own. When that happens there will be no more need for our planet to hold things in control. The human race will be totally capable of ensuring their existence even without reaching back to their home planet..

Lets face it! We still live in our mothers basement!
We need to grow up!

On the ISS retrofitting for Mars issue, is better if we just push ISS to Mars with the plan to have ISS orbit the red planet and make this an international space program, because last time I checked ISS does not belong to a single country for it to be forced to adapt to a specific national space program philosophy.

For going for total independence one time trip to Mars and then on to a permanent colonization scheme, we should equip Mars with at least one or two to three different orbiting stations, with different functions each. Load several people on them and let them discover their own technology,strategy, methods, philosophy on how to continue from there.
Chances are that a new colony will adopt or will discover totally different government types or ethics systems thatn the ones we are used to and that would be a problem for Earth in keeping control of its colonies, in fact that might be the primary reason why space colonization hasn't started yet, the fear of the unknown about new discoveries that will change us. Chances are that Earth will be the one to change and not the other way around.

[edit on 9-11-2008 by populardisbelief]