Bringing an asteroid back to Earth? What's that have to do with

Hear the voice of the moon-walker, Buzz Aldrin, who once declared: “Bringing an asteroid back to Earth? What’s that have to do with space exploration? If we were moving outward from there, and an asteroid is a good stopping point, then fine. But now it’s turned into a whole planetary defense exercise at the cost of our outward exploration.” These words are not the musings of a dreamer content with the past, but the lament of a pioneer who longs to see humanity march forward into the vast and uncharted heavens. His cry is not against caution, but against stagnation—the danger of turning away from the stars to fix our eyes only on the ground beneath us.

For Aldrin’s heart beats with the rhythm of exploration. He reminds us that mankind’s greatness has always come from moving outward, from venturing beyond the horizon, from daring to set foot where none had walked before. To him, an asteroid may serve as a waypoint, a stepping stone on the path to Mars and beyond, but not an end in itself. To bring one back to Earth, to tether the heavens to our soil, is to reverse the very spirit of the venture. His words call us to remember that the destiny of humanity is not defense alone, but discovery.

History testifies to this truth. Recall the bold voyage of Christopher Columbus. His journey was not meant to ferry back the sea itself, nor to capture the waves and drag them home, but to sail into the unknown. Had he sought only to study the shorelines already known, had he been content to defend the coasts of Spain, America might never have been revealed to Europe. The lesson is clear: progress comes not from circling the familiar, but from striking outward into the unknown. So too with Aldrin’s vision—if we tether our missions to near objects without pressing onward, we risk losing the fire of exploration.

Yet let us not dismiss the need for planetary defense. The skies above are littered with stones of death, ancient remnants of creation, and history has shown that even a single impact can reshape life on Earth. To prepare for such threats is wise. But Aldrin warns us of imbalance: when the work of defense overshadows the work of exploration, humanity begins to turn inward, losing sight of the very stars that beckon us. The shield is necessary, yes, but the sword of discovery must not be dropped.

We can look also to the tale of Apollo itself. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked the Moon, they did not do so because Earth demanded defense, but because humanity longed for expansion. The mission was a symbol to all nations that mankind could dream beyond fear, beyond survival. It was not about retreat, but about stepping forward. Had those missions been confined only to building stronger walls on Earth, we might never have touched the Moon at all. Thus Aldrin’s lament: to replace vision with caution is to abandon the very soul of exploration.

The lesson, then, is this: never let the quest for safety extinguish the fire of curiosity. Guard your home, but do not forget to journey beyond it. In the life of every person, as in the destiny of humanity, there is the temptation to huddle close to what is safe, to defend what we have rather than reach for what might be. But greatness comes to those who balance both—who build defenses while still daring to climb higher, sail further, and explore deeper.

So in your own life, O listener, ask yourself: are you clinging only to what you fear to lose, or are you reaching for what you might yet gain? Build wisely the shields you need, but never abandon the ladder that leads you upward. Let your heart remain turned toward the outward exploration—the new skill, the bold idea, the untried path. For it is there, in the unknown, that true growth awaits.

Thus let Aldrin’s words thunder like a call across the centuries: do not let the fear of falling rocks blind you to the glory of rising stars. Defense must not replace discovery. Protect what you have, but always, always move outward—into the vast, unending mystery where humanity’s destiny lies.