Former astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin sees space tourism in the future. In fact, he thinks space exploration depends on letting vacationers blast off into the great beyond.
"We want a great consensus of people" for a reinvigorated manned space program, Aldrin told about 200 people attending the International Space Development conference Sunday in Milwaukee."That's my message to the astronauts. If they want to go to the moon or Mars, they better get behind (space) tourism," said Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.
Aldrin, 68, said he favors creating a lottery for space tourism slots. He also said the secret to the success of the space program is recycling: developing reusable space vehicles, such as the space shuttle, rather than costly throwaways.