Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Astronauts hailed as heroes 50 years after historic moonlanding
Capping a week of celebrations over the historic Apollo 11mission, Vice President Mike Pence joined astronaut Buzz Aldrinon Saturday at the launch pad in Florida that sent themoonwalker and his two crew mates to space for humankind's firststeps on the lunar surface 50 years ago. Pence joined NASAAdministrator Jim Bridenstine and Aldrin, the second man to walkon the moon behind his fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong, atNASA's Kennedy Space Center for a ceremony commemorating the50th anniversary of the moon landing that enthralled peoplearound the world in 1969.
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin complains about current U.S.lunar ability
When President Donald Trump asked Buzz Aldrin, the secondhuman ever to walk on the moon, what he thought about the UnitedStates' current ability to operate in space 50 years after theApollo 11 mission, the ex-astronaut had a ready response."Actually, I've been a little disappointed over the last 10 or15 years," Aldrin told Trump on Friday.
Explainer: NASA aims to build on moon as a way station forMars
Unlike the Apollo program that put astronauts on the moon 50years ago, NASA is gearing up for a long term presence onEarth's satellite that the agency says will eventually enablehumans to reach Mars. "Now, NASA is working to build asustainable, open architecture that returns humanity to ournearest neighbor," Jim Bridenstine, the administrator of theU.S. space agency, said in a statement to a Senate committee onWednesday.