The biggest benefit of Apollo was the inspiration it gave to a growing generation to get into science and aerospace.

Mars has been flown by, orbited, smacked into, radar examined, and rocketed onto, as well as bounced upon, rolled over, shoveled, drilled into, baked and even blasted. Still to come: Mars being stepped on.

I didn't start skiing until I was 50. My wife Lois taught me how to ski. I'm proficiently conservative.

I'm not in favor of just taking short-term isolated situations and depleting our resources to keep our climate just the way it is today.

Only a large-volume market like space travel can attack the barrier of high costs.

I felt pretty confident in relieving myself, since I had the urge.

By refocusing our space program on Mars for America's future, we can restore the sense of wonder and adventure in space exploration that we knew in the summer of 1969. We won the moon race; now it's time for us to live and work on Mars, first on its moons and then on its surface.