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.

I wrote 'Reaching for the Moon' because I wanted to tell kids that all of us have a moon, a dream, that we can strive for. Even if you don't attain it, you can at least reach for it.

Like actors and writers who are on and off again in terms of employment, I had a very unstructured life.

Unfortunately, kids are led to believe things are easier to achieve than they really are.

Exploration is wired into our brains. If we can see the horizon, we want to know what's beyond.

Mars could very well be a staging location for the resources of the asteroid belt. We have to learn how to get a payback somewhere, but it's beyond Mars that the real payoff will come from minerals.

Knowledge of the past and an optimistic view of the present give you great opportunities.