Space geographic expedition sucks .
At least , that ’s what certain astronaut will tell you . Not only will youpuke the whole wayto the Moon , you wo n’t even enjoy it when you get there – aside from a tiny , contrabandart gallery , the only sights you ’re probable to see are “ devastation ” , “ meteoroid craters ” , and “ no color at all , just unlike shades of grey,”according toApollo 8 crewmember Frank Borman . Even the iconic fleur-de-lis isprobably goneby now .
And now adding his voice to the list of space - old age naysayer is Borman ’s crewmate Bill Anders . In an interview for aBBC tuner documentarycommemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission , Anders described prospective crew missions to Mars – whichNASA plans to launchwithin the next couple of decades – as “ dazed ” and “ almost ridiculous ” .
“ What ’s the imperative ? What ’s pushing us to go to Mars ? " Andersasked . " I do n’t think the populace is that interested . "
Although a “ big assistant ” ofuncrewed Mars missions – which he draw as “ remarkable … mainly because they ’re much loud ” – Anders said there just is n’t enough public backup to justify sending humans to the Red Planet . And apart from a fewhigh - profileMarsenthusiasts , it seems he ’s correct – one2018 pollrevealed that less than one in five Americans see it as a top precedence . In fact , more than doubly as many people instantaneously oppose sending humankind to Mars as digest it .
Even if that were n’t the compositor’s case , there would still be some jolly major trouble facing the crew of any potential Mars foreign mission – NASA may well want to get humans on the Red Planet , but it’snowhere near readyto really do so . Not only is the garden rocket that would take them therenot really finishedyet , but there ’s still the issue of the terrifyingbrain damageandcancersthat face any hypothetical Mars - bind astronaut .
“ There ’s a lot of plug about Mars that is bunk , ” said Borman . “ Musk and Bezos , they ’re talking about putting colonies on Mars , that ’s nonsense . ”
But ill - advised missions to Mars are n’t NASA ’s only problem , accord to Anders .
“ NASA could n’t get to the Moon today , ” he said . “ They ’re so fossilised … many of the middle are in the main concerned in keep busy and you do n’t see the public support . ”
Despite his fond remembering from the 1968 lunar mission that birthedhis iconic “ Earthrise ” photo , Anders described his belief that NASA ’s crewed missions had been “ mishandle ” in the decades that followed .
“ I think NASA ’s lucky to have what they ’ve got – which is still tough , in my mind , to justify , ” he explained . “ I ’m not a very democratic guy at NASA for saying that , but that ’s what I think . ”
“ I ’m not as critical of NASA as Bill is , ” he say . “ I firmly believe that we need robust geographic expedition of our Solar System and I think valet is part of that . ”
