Mars trip 'will be easier'

2005-09-07 12:05

Malaysia - Neil Armstrong said on Tuesday that a human expedition to Mars won't happen for at least 20 years, but might be easier than the trip that made him the first person to step onto the Moon in 1969.

Armstrong said scientists must develop better onboard spacecraft technology and stronger shields to block space radiation before people can travel to Mars.

"It will certainly be 20 years or more before that happens," the former astronaut said at a global leadership forum in Malaysia.

"It will be expensive," he said. "It will take a lot of energy and a complex spacecraft. But I suspect that - even though the various questions are difficult and many - they are not as difficult and many as those we faced when we started the Apollo (space programme) in 1961."

Armstrong, 75, who seldom appears at public functions or grants interviews, commanded Nasa's Apollo 11 Moon mission in 1969.

He left the space programme in 1971 to teach aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati in the US state of Ohio.

The current US space initiative envisions sending more astronauts to the Moon in the next 10-15 years, and ultimately to Mars and beyond, though no firm date has been announced.

It is widely believed that the project will cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Hailing technological breakthroughs that led to space travel in the 20th century, Armstrong said setting foot on the moon was "a wonderful feeling" - especially because he'd thought the landing had only a 50% chance of a success.

"I was elated, ecstatic and extremely surprised that we were successful," Armstrong said.

- AP