Heavy lifting doesn't need to be heavy spending if we do the job right.

It was designed to have an impact on the stalemate over Mutually Assured Destruction with the Soviet Union. Us reaching the moon convinced Gorbachev and other leaders that the Soviet Union couldn't compete with the U.S., so they revised their agenda. But people have short memories.

Because of his military service, Dad was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Training was very extensive, and we dealt with many recoveries from emergencies, and fortunately, participating and observing and existing through the reality of space was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it was not marred by unexpected hazards or catastrophes.

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

My family has always supported my activities, whether it was doing combat in Korea, flying progressively and challenging fighter-jet aircraft in Europe, or studying for a doctor's degree at MIT. They have been always very supportive and understanding of the challenges and risks involved in my career. A family needs to work as a team, supporting each other's individual aims and aspirations.

There's a tremendously satisfying freedom associated with weightlessness. It's challenging in the absence of traction or leverage, and it requires thoughtful readjustment. I found the experience of weightlessness to be one of the most fun and enjoyable, challenging and rewarding, experiences of spaceflight. Returning to Earth brings with it a great sense of heaviness, and a need for careful movement. In some ways it's not too different from returning from a rocking ocean ship.