astronaut neal armstrong and two of his former colleagues recently wrote an open letter to the president, quoting, without the skill and experience that actual spacecraft operation provides, the usa is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity. america must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space. it is a great honor to bring in, as promised, colonel buzz aldrin, who traveled with the president today on air force one. among colonel ald rin -- aldrin's many missions, part of apollo 13, he was the second person to set foot on the moon following mission commander neal armstrong. colonel, thank you very much for joining us tonight. we know that you differ with your former colleague about the merits of the president's plan. could you tell us why you're in favor of president obama's vision of the way forward here?