Just like President John F. Kennedy challenged America to land on the moon before the end of the 1960s, so too can some new leader inspire the future of space exploration on Mars, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin believes.

Aldrin, 85, spoke before a packed house Tuesday at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus.

“America must be the world leader in human space flight,” he said. “There is no other area that clearly demonstrates American innovation and enterprise than human space flight.”

Aldrin made history with Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, when the two men became the first humans to step foot on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. In total, they spent 21 hours on the lunar surface gathering 46 pounds of moon rocks. Some 600 million people watched the historic scene on television.

Though Aldrin isn’t a CU-Boulder alum—he went to West Point and MIT— the campus has ties to 18 astronauts and a long history of space research and exploration. CU-Boulder is the No. 1 NASA-funded public university with nearly $500 million in sponsored research awards, and is leading the space agency’s MAVEN mission to Mars.

Aldrin’s visit was organized by the Distinguished Speakers Board, a student-fee funded group that’s brought Bill Nye, B.B. King, Soledad O’Brien, Madeleine Albright and other influential people to campus.

In a speech that was humorous, but also deeply technical, Aldrin outlined his “unified space vision” for American exploration—and the colonization—of Mars.

He’s hoping to draw on lunar landing nostalgia to get the world, especially young people, excited again about traveling into the great unknown, he said.

The 50th anniversary of his and Armstrong’s historic journey to the moon is coming up in 2019. That would be a good day for an American president to make a commitment to colonizing Mars, Aldrin said.

Aldrin said the country needs a bipartisan Congress and a presidential administration that’s reinvigorated about space research.

“Humans need to explore, push beyond current limits just like we did 45 years ago,” he said. “Apollo was the story of people at their best, working together for a common goal. We started with a dream, and we can do these kinds of things again. I know it. I’m living proof that it can be done.”

Aldrin said he wants to establish a permanent residence on Mars by 2040, but the process could begin as early as 2018.

The plan, outlined in this 2013 book “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration,” is based on a concept known as “The Cycler,” a spacecraft system that makes perpetual orbits between Earth and Mars.

Though it may sound like science fiction, Aldrin said he believes it’s possible—and necessary—for America to be an international leader in human space travel to Mars.

“People ask me sometimes ‘Why do we need to go to Mars?'” Aldrin said. “‘Why do we even need a space program?’ Because by adventuring into space, we improve life for everyone here on Earth. The scientific advancement, the innovations that come from this kind of research, new technology that we use in our daily lives. . .”

Aldrin also recapped parts of his “grand adventure” to the moon, explaining how his research at MIT led to him being selected as an astronaut.

He joked that an “iconic,” candid photo of him walking on the moon’s surface taken by Armstrong was great for three reasons: location, location, location.

“As I stepped out onto the moon, the first words that came to my mind were ‘magnificent desolation,'” he said. “It was a magnificent accomplishment for man to set foot on another world for the first time. Yet there was this desolation of the million-year-old lunar landscape. No sign of life. No atmosphere. And beyond the horizon, total black sky.”

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta