Buzz Aldrin propellants, with an expected five and a half month journey from the Earth to Mars, and a return trip to Earth of about the same duration on a twin-cycler. Aldrin continues to research this concept with engineers from Purdue University. In December 2003, Aldrin published an opinion piece in "The New York Times" criticizing NASA's objectives. In it, he voiced concern about NASA's development of a spacecraft "limited to transporting four astronauts at a time with little or no cargo carrying capability" and declared the goal of sending astronauts back to the Moon was "more like reaching for past glory
Buzz Aldrin Collins recovered he joined Armstrong's crew as CMP. In the meantime, Fred Haise filled in as backup LMP, and Aldrin as backup CMP for Apollo 8. An effect of this was that while the CMP usually occupied the center couch on takeoff, Aldrin occupied it rather than Collins, as he had already been trained in it before Collins arrived. Apollo 11 was the second all-veteran multi-person crew on an American mission, the first being that of Apollo 10. An all-veteran crew would not be flown again until STS-26 in 1988. Early versions of the EVA checklist had the Lunar Module