Buzz Aldrin has been working with engineers from Purdue University to transform his ideas for an Earth-Mars Cycler into reality. The astronaut predicts that by 2030 the first astronaut explorers will take missions to Mars lasting 5 years or longer to observe the planet, which would be followed by colonizers, permanent settlements, and eventually attempts to terraform the red planet and create a habitable Earth-like atmosphere. In 2005, Aldrin told Popular Mechanics, “The Cycler system alters the philosophy behind a Mars program. It makes possible the dream of regular flights to the Red Planet and a permanent human presence there. That’s the only way we’ll ever succeed in taking mankind’s next giant leap: a subway-in-the-sky between our planet and our future second home.” Lego aficionado Andrew Becraft has created his own rendition of the Aldrin Mars Cycler. See more at the BrothersBrick.com. [Read more...]