The best way to study Mars is with two hands, eyes and ears of a geologist, first at a moon orbiting Mars... and then on the surface.

You are not going to change the minds of people who are looking for attention.

I want to reach a new generation. That's why I am Twittering now. I have a BlackBerry, an iPhone and a Mac.

For every winner, there's a loser. And that person didn't really need to lose. They just didn't understand the game plan.

I expected the unexpected and went [on the Moon] with an open mind. I think the visual scene was described by my words on first landing - "magnificent desolation." Magnificent for the achievement of being there, and desolate for the eons of lifelessness.

The first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth. They should be the beginning of a build-up of a colony/settlement, I call it a 'permanence'.

We need to have people up there who can communicate what it feels like, not just pilots and engineers.