Edgar Mitchell Quotes

During my 8 years as chairman, I had the privilege to peer into the future to see dynamic citizen astronauts returning to and from the heavens which we can expect in the future.

I used to be a strong believer that we would eventually colonize the solar system the way it's been done in science fiction many, many times: bases on the moon, Mars colonized, move out to the outer planets, then we go to the next solar system and build a colony there. I don't know now - I'm not as convinced that's the way it's going to pan out.

There are people that tell you we gotta colonize Mars in the next 50 years if we're to survive as a human race. It's absolute stupidity. All it does is scare people - particularly young, impressionable minds who already think there isn't gonna be a planet in 30 years. Now they're thinking, since there isn't gonna be a planet, "If we don't get to Mars in 30 years, I'm gonna die."

Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space.

Our future lies with today's kids and tomorrow's space exploration.

Mars is key to humanity's future in space. It is the closest planet that has all the resources needed to support life and technological civilization. Its complexity uniquely demands the skills of human explorers, who will pave the way for human settlers.

It is time to declare that the goal of the United States in space is the settlement of the solar system, from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.

I have had the privilege to be a member of many high-performance teams at NASA, both on and off the planet.

Hopefully, we will get more and more people interested in doing research in space. I think eventually it's also going to be a great commercial market.

Eventually we're going to go to Mars, and I firmly believe the first person that sets foot on Mars will get there on a Boeing rocket.

Support space-resource and industrial infrastructure. Multibillion-dollar satellites or voyagers to Mars and beyond, if we don't live off the land, we will always only be visitors or wire stringers in territories we do not inhabit or control.

I am a spacer. It is what and who I am. It is my cause and my life. I am not an enthusiast, a fan, or supporter. It is what I exist to do here on Earth. And there are many of us; some, like Elon Musk, are very high profile.

Space exploration has taken a tremendous technological leap. India as a developing nation has been recognized globally for how it has economized its missions, which have been comparatively low-cost compared with other countries.

Will we have a colony on Mars? I think so.

Obviously I'd like NASA to follow their charter - the exploration of our solar system and beyond. I'd like to see people someday go to Mars.

NASA has made a difference.

I always admired the U.S. as the country of the space shuttle, of technological achievement.

I am very inspired by the exploration of space via private means.

I'm a strong advocate of new missions to Venus.

I think the International Space Station is providing a key bridge from us living on Earth to going somewhere into deep space.

There's no question that if we stay on planet Earth and never leave, that eventually we'll be wiped out.

We go as humans into space to expand the domain of humanity and life - not robots. And as we do, we will get more science because when you are living somewhere, you obviously learn more about it. NASA and the government must first get out of the way and then support us as we open the frontier.

My desire to contribute to the spaceflight team as we move forward in our exploration of space has only increased over the years.

We need to move off the planet. And Mars is the next best place.