Comment & Debate
Captain Alan Bean, The 77-year-old was part of the Apollo 12 mission and became the fourth man to walk on the Moon, sided with going to Mars instead of returning to the Moon: “We ought to gather the international community and go to Mars. I know it isn’t how others feel because it is much cheaper to go back to the Moon but I would rather we went to Mars. If we did it with all those other countries it would have a tremendously unifying effect on the Earth. It would be an inspiration for all people on Earth.”[1]
This is similar to how the space race to the Moon created an platform for cooperation, even between adversaries. As Neil Armstrong said in 2009 about the race to the moon during the Cold War, “Eventually, it provided a mechanism for engendering co-operation between former adversaries. In that sense, among others, it was an exceptional national investment for both sides.”[2]