I suppose the one quality in an astronaut more powerful than any other is curiosity. They have to get some place nobody's ever been.

That was a real fireball.

This is a day we have managed to avoid for a quarter of a century. We've talked about it before and speculated about it, and it finally has occurred. We hoped we could push this day back forever.

I still love to fly and I'll never get over that.

As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.

America is in a newly competitive position around the world, and unless we keep our lead in education for all of our people and do the research along with that, other nations will start outdoing us and they will be leaders in the world.

When others kid me about being bald, I simply tell them that the way I figure it, the good Lord only gave men so many hormones, and if others want to waste theirs on growing hair, that's up to them.