Howard Bloom and Jason Louv share this graphic (click on to view larger) & description which outlines Buzz Aldrin's Unified Space Vision (recently discussed on our Space Roundtable Show):
America's future is in the skies. So is the future of all mankind. Here, says Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, is where we will make humanity multi-planetary. Step one is to develop a private sector space taxi that can take humans to the International Space Station and bring them back – inexpensively. Step two is a permanent exploration vehicle that stays in space, a vehicle we can use to shuttle back and forth from moon orbit to earth orbit, or that we can use to reach the resources of the sky – the trillions of dollars worth of platinum, lithium, gallium and more in asteroids, or in the massive flying snowballs of potential rocket fuel called comets.
Step three is to develop a heavy lift vehicle that can get large amounts of cargo into space for a lower cost than the $14,000/lb we've spent in the past. Step four is to lead an international effort with China, India, Russia, Japan and Europe to develop the raw materials for steel, glass, microchips, tourism and energy on the moon.
Step five, use our deep space exploration vehicle for a new first for the human race – landing on asteroids and comets. Step six, we build a habitat on Mars' moon Phobos. A base from which we can explore and build on the Martian surface. And finally, we create man's first presence on Mars. All of Buzz Aldrin’s Unified Space Vision is doable within the president's new space program. The goal? Take the resource load off of earth. Bring space to life by bringing life to space. On behalf of the entire human race.