Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin has recently shown his concerns over US losing its position at the forefront of space exploration.
The former American astronaut said that America has been in the worst competitive shape than ever after Sputnik and it could be surpassed by nations such as China, the Washington Times reported.
The president has told them that they were going to do the same things in the 10 or 15 years what they did back in '69, which might not be popular among people, so they should set their sights on a celestial body beyond the moon like Mars, he further added.
Aldrin also suggested that regardless of political differences, U.S. and China should attempt to cooperate for human space exploration and mentioned that in 2020 at the 45th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission, U.S. and Soviet spacecraft would be docked together in orbit, a symbolic time for the U.S. and China to perform a similar feat.
However, Mr. Aldrin was also concerned that people in Washington might not remember history as well as they should and was worried that not enough was being done to mark the 45th anniversary of the first lunar landing.