It's real easy to manufacture what you think the people want to hear. But that's not very honest.

The big companies are the private industry. But they're faced with a short-term need to show a profit in short-term.

I shot down two airplanes in Korea, so I wasn't a slouch.

Many say exploration is part of our destiny, but it's actually our duty to future generations and their quest to ensure the survival of the human species.

You can tell I'm not too bashful about some of my feelings.

We could have human intelligence in orbit around Mars, building things there.

The g-forces increased and I wasn't able to continue to hold the camera against the window, so I had to lay it back against my chest, but still continued to photograph the re-entry until there was no more unusual visual effects of the energy in the atmosphere. And it was very comforting to understand that the people in Houston, the controllers, had very high confidence that we were on the right path.