Aldrin backs Mars mission

HONG KONG: NASA should focus on sending a man to Mars and helping other nations travel in space, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin said on Friday.

Aldrin, who was the second man to set foot on the moon after Neil Armstrong, was speaking at the launch of a three-day exhibition at the Hong Kong Space Museum celebrating the moon landing. The 40th anniversary of the landing falls on July 21.

He said the US space agency needed to stop concentrating on simply developing new rockets and turn its attention to visiting the neighboring planet.