Buzz Says Send English Speakers to Mars

... and we shall call our new Mars colony "Xenophobia."

Let's just hope this was taken out of context.

I must believe then he's ok with everyone else going to the Moon -- just not the U.S.

[From the article] "Aldrin, 80, said Nasa astronauts should not be sent back to the moon."

Will Canadians feel slighted after being left off Buzz Aldrin's "togetherness organization" English speaking list?

> Will Canadians feel slighted after being left off Buzz Aldrin's "togetherness organization" English speaking list?

No. He is trying to stir up support in NZ. There is nothing else to this. He is not phobic of countries or languages.

Everyone needs to lay off the PC pills.

He didn't say that non-English-speakers can't go.

He said you can make a more efficient exploration body that is single-languaged. He's 100% correct.

I'll take it even further - I'd rather see Mars Exploration being driven by inter-nation competition than by multi-nation cooperation.

Let's start the journey to Mars with a new vision, even if it means not listening to some of the pioneers who helped us reach this point. Yes, we should not go back to the Moon because it's an incredible waste of money and other resources. Let's build a LEO space station which would be used to bolt together the craft to be used for the Mars trip. And let's get the whole world involved in the effort so that we can get all of the best minds working on the trip to Mars. And can we please, please ditch this insane system of measurements.

Shhh, don't let anyone know about Canada. It's a secret ;-)

I happen to like Buzz, but sometimes I really have to wonder about some of his recommendations...

So we are supposed to depend upon New Zeland to help us reach Mars?

The country that recently decided that it's air force should get rid of it's only fighter planes in this age of terrorism?

http://www.airforce.mil.nz/about-us/aircraft/default.htm

Ummm, Canada isn't just an English-speaking country! We're officially bilingual, and truly multicultural, thanks!

And anybody who's been to an ESA meeting knows that folks from a wide range of language backgrounds can work together well, technically, eh?

What Buzz doesn't know is that we Canadians built some "secret functions" into the Canada-Arm. He'd best stay away from the ISS!

Only a relatively few people on Earth know if it is easier to stick your foot in your mouth at 1 g or 0 g. It seems Dr. Aldrin is not one of them.

But Canada is part of the US, right? ;-)

I think it's simplistic to say the language problem disappears for a crew selected from those countries. For example, some English-speaking Europeans or Chinese are easier for me to understand than some Indians or Australians. Or Texans, for that matter. Accents and colloquialisms can be a barrier no matter who gets picked.

Good ole Buzz, he just cracks me up laughing everytime he makes this type of a statement. And this is the expert that Obama listened to when putting together his space policy of not returning to the moon? Hey Buzz, why don't you join your pal Charlie Bolden in the "no talking to the public room".

I propose an official language.

Mathematics, any seconds?

Do most of the people commenting on this site really have any clue, or do they just read the tag line and make stupid comments. Dr. Aldrin is in Australia and New Zealand promoting the Make a Wish Foundation, and made some comments about international cooperation in space. His comments we're about getting Australia and New Zealand more involved in space, and had nothing to do with the so-called "anglosphere".

Keith, you do a good job. I just wonder if sometime your just trying to stir up the masses.

Mitch Murray

Editor's note: lighten up Mitch

Actually, in the long run, it probably would make sense for humans to pick one language and make that the common language for all extra-planetary exploration, bases, colonies, etc. As humans moved out into the Solar system and eventually neighboring stars, there would be one primary language for human civilzation understandable by all.

English happens to be the most popular language worldwide (I think Spanish is second) and contains one of the largest vocabularies of any human language. English is already the default language in aviation and used among air traffic controllers worldwide.

Having English as a common language among all space explorers would not preclude anyone from non-English speaking countries from being involved in HSF activities. They would just have to learn the language - just as Americans will eventually have to fully convert to the metric system. I think having a common language makes sense in the same way that having a common system of weights and measures makes sense.

South Africa? According to the 2001 National Census, the three most spoken languages are Zulu (23.8%), Xhosa (17.6%) and Afrikaans (13.3%) Despite the fact that English is recognized as the language of commerce and science, it was spoken by only 8.2%. India? The great mass of India speak one of many hundreds of Indo-Aryan or Dravidic languages. English is spoken by the educated westernized elite. The countries where English is the majority language are:

Antigua and Barbuda 85,000  
Australia 22,374,370 
Bahamas 331,000 
Barbados 294,000 
Belize 288,000 
Canada 33,531,000 
Dominica 73,000 
Fiji 827,900 
Grenada 106,000 
Guyana 738,000 
Ireland 4,517,800 
Jamaica 2,714,000 
Kiribati 95,000 
Liberia 3,750,000 
Malta 412,600 
Marshall Islands 59,000 
Mauritius1, 262,000 
Federated States of Micronesia 111,000 
Nauru 10,000 
New Zealand 4,294,350 
Palau 20,000 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 50,000 
Saint Lucia 165,000 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 120,000 
Samoa 188,359 
Seychelles 87,000 
Singapore (English lingua franca) 4,839,400  
Solomon Islands 506,992 
Tonga 100,000 
Trinidad and Tobago 1,333,000 
Tuvalu 11,000 
United Kingdom 61,612,300 
United States of America 309,442,000
Vanuatu 226,000  
AmericanSamoa 67,000 
Anguilla 13,000 
Bermuda 65,000 
British Virgin Islands 23,000 
Cayman Islands 47,000 
Christmas Island 1,508 
Cook Islands 20,200 
Falkland Islands 3,000 
Gibraltar 29,257 
Guam 173,000 
Guernsey 61,811 
Isle of Man 80,058 
Jersey 89,300 
Niue1, 600 
Norfolk Island 1,828 
Northern Mariana Islands 784,000 
Pitcairn Islands 50 
Saint Helena & Tristan da Cunha 6,600 
Tokelau 1,400 
Turks and Caicos Islands 26,000 
U.S. Virgin Islands 5111,000

Total Population of the English Speaking States  455,313,289

Not including Europe as a whole and as an english-speaking "country" is a mistake of course. All EU space-related businesses work in English and English is the main language of the European Space Agency.

Isn't it like saying let's cooperate only with countries that share Imperial/US units of measurement?

It sure sounds like the quote was taken out of context. Buzz is all about international cooperation in space, see this link that's been on his page forever:
http://buzzaldrin.com/space-vision/advocacy/international-cooperation/

There's nothing there about English-only space... but there is a lot there about cooperating with China, Japan, Russia, etc.

He was just trying to point out it would be easy for NZ to participate in space with NASA because they speak English.

Buzz is 80, but is still busy non-stop flying around the country and around the world trying to promote space exploration. Why all of the venom against him from "space advocates" in this thread?

Actually no. While I wish the continental Europeans
well with their space program, I think the logical block
partners for them are Japan and Brazil, I don't see them
as coming from a common cultural stock with the peoples
descended from English colonization. They come from a
different legal and cultural expectation and accepted
norms of working cross nationally. I do not see our current
world problems leading to greater multilateralism, but to
the generation of block organization. China is it's own
block, India/Russia are a historically and culturally
compatible. Europe, Japan, and Brazil, and the Spanish
speaking world are historically and culturally compatible.
The smallest of these blocks is the Anglophonic Block.
But that can be ameliorated by cross block cooperation
where that makes since. I think there is enough room in
space for us all, and a little competition is good for us.