Space Missions Quotes

I'm honored to be recognized among generations of astronauts who were at the forefront of exploring our universe for the benefit of humankind.

The moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars.

The American people want and deserve a space program truly worthy of a nation of pioneers.

We went to the Moon as technicians; we returned as humanitarians.

Astronauts are inherently insane. And really noble.

Having walked on the Moon, I know something about what we need to explore, really explore, in space.

I've been approached to do some things with astronauts and the preparation that astronauts go through.

The whole Hubble program has just been a fabulous testament to the NASA science community and the NASA astronaut community.

We all have our levels of risk tolerance. People who have decided they want to go to space are going to go.

As far as entertainment, 'The Right Stuff' is a good movie. As far as a documentary of the early space days, which they purported it to be, it is not at all.

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

We're not up there in space just to joyride around. We're up there to do things that are of value to everybody right here on Earth.

I was only a hero by default. The flights were few and far between. There weren't that many astronauts. The moon flights were so interesting and exciting.

Seeing a full display of humanity involved in space is a game-changer for everyone. We've all looked at the stars; we've all imagined what was going on. Not everyone wants to go, but everyone wants to know what it's like.

Everyone, red state, blue state, everyone supports space exploration.

We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here – our hopes and our journeys continue.

We should stop wasting taxpayer funds on ridiculously expensive government missions to nowhere that return little value and blaze no useful trail for others to follow. Of course we should spend much more on science - and yes, use robots to do that science when it makes sense.

Hubble is unique. Nothing else can do what it can do. Once it's gone, we're going to be paralyzed.

The exploration of the planets is now closer to us in time than the exploration of Africa by Stanley and Livingstone.

The Moon may not be quite as appealing as Mars, but it's still a complex and poorly understood world, with many questions still unanswered.

The exploration of space: Be it by humans or robots, based on the best choice for the mission and the most efficient means to return the data and science sought. Most of the time, this will mean we send robots due to cost and danger. But sometimes, we will need the irreplaceable judgment and descriptive abilities of a person on the spot.

As long as humanity has been human, it has looked toward the heavens and dreamed that some day, some way, there would be giant federal contracts involved.

Ironically, it is only when disaster strikes that the shuttle makes the headlines. Its routine flights attracted less media interest than unmanned probes to the planets or the images from the Hubble Telescope. The fate of Columbia (like that of Challenger in 1986) reminded us that space is still a hazardous environment.

The great thing about being an astronaut is you kind of get to do a little bit of everything. I mean, we're going to ride a rocket uphill.