My interest in the space program has a certain purity to it because I recognize the romance of it but I was never seduced by it. That allowed me to view it through a more purely scientific lens. My interest in space while in school came about through my scientific activities.

Imagine a world in which we are all enlightened by objective truths rather than offended by them.

The past is another planet.

For me, one of the most fertile consequences of the space program is the extent to which it stimulates people to innovate because they want to create a different tomorrow than what they're living in today. And it's that culture of innovation that spawns entirely new economies.

That's the point, to get the people who wouldn't otherwise think to eavesdrop on a conversation that involves science.

Thomas Jefferson basically secularized Jesus.

If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job as a scientist.