--- title: Bull Aldrin Wants to Colonize Mars Before 2040 description: By 2039 humans will be calling Mars home, if things go according to Buzz Aldrin’s plan. canonical: https://time.com/4014856/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-2040/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-28T15:53:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:53.250Z article:section: Science og:title: Buzz Aldrin Wants to Colonize Mars Before 2040 og:description: To Phobos and beyond og:url: https://time.com/4014856/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-2040/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0115b09474a3917c/6988615dab6d77896e6a5f0c/buzz-aldrin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: buzz aldrin space institute og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Buzz Aldrin Wants to Colonize Mars Before 2040 twitter:description: To Phobos and beyond twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0115b09474a3917c/6988615dab6d77896e6a5f0c/buzz-aldrin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Buzz Aldrin Wants to Colonize Mars Before 2040 by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Aug 28, 2015 3:53 PM UTC  Florida Tech President and CEO Anthony J. Catanese, left, talks with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin as he shows him the campus before a signing ceremony formalizing the establishment of the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute on Aug. 27, 2015 in Melbourne, Fla. Florida Tech President and CEO Anthony J. Catanese, left, talks with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin as he shows him the campus before a signing ceremony formalizing the establishment of the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute on Aug. 27, 2015 in Melbourne, Fla.Craig Rubadoux—AP by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Aug 28, 2015 3:53 PM UTC By 2039 humans will be calling Mars home, if things go according to Buzz Aldrin’s plan. The second man on the moon is teaming up with the Florida Institute of Technology to develop a master plan to colonize the red planet in less than 25 years. Aldrin chose 2039 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which first allowed man to walk on the moon. Aldrin’s plan involves using Mars’ moons as pit-stops for astronauts on the way to the planet. People who arrive on Mars would stay there for at least a decade. He is seeking input from NASA on the plan, though the space agency already has its own initiative to put astronauts on Mars in the mid-2030s. At the Florida Institute of Technology, Aldrin will be a faculty adviser and research professor for aeronautics. He will also lead the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute, set to open this fall. \[[_The Guardian_\]](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/27/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-within-25-years) ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4014856/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-2040/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4014856/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-2040/"},"headline":"Buzz Aldrin Wants to Colonize Mars Before 2040","datePublished":"2015-08-28T15:53:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:53.250Z","description":"To Phobos and beyond","url":"https://time.com/4014856/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-2040/","keywords":["Space","Mars","A Year In Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0115b09474a3917c/6988615dab6d77896e6a5f0c/buzz-aldrin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0115b09474a3917c/6988615dab6d77896e6a5f0c/buzz-aldrin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"buzz aldrin space institute","caption":"buzz aldrin space institute","creditText":"Craig Rubadoux—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4014856/buzz-aldrin-colonize-mars-2040/","name":"Buzz Aldrin Wants to Colonize Mars Before 2040"}}]}] ```