Today, we are on a path of decay. We are seeing the book close on five decades of accomplishment as the leader in human space exploration.
I do believe there is life in outer space. Mathematically, there has to be, and if you believe as I do that there is a creator of the universe, then how can we be so arrogant to believe he created life here and nowhere else?
To become an astronaut, someone has to have a dream of his own to do something that he or she has always wanted to do, then commit himself to making that dream come true.
Am I willing to go to Mars? Yes, but I'm not willing to spend nine months getting there, then wait 18 more months until the planets align to come home.
We leave as we came and, god willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind.
Here I am at the turn of the millennium and I'm still the last man to have walked on the moon, somewhat disappointing. It says more about what we have not done than about what we have done.
I think America has a responsibility to maintain its leadership in technology and its moral leadership in the world, to explore, to seek knowledge.