I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine.

Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.

NASA has been one of the most successful public investments in motivating students to do well and achieve all they can achieve. It's sad that we are turning the programme in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation and stimulation it provides to young people.

Geologists have a saying - rocks remember.

Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10.

In much of society, research means to investigate something you do not know or understand.

Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.

All in all, for someone who was immersed in, fascinated by, and dedicated to flight, I was disappointed by the wrinkle in history that had brought me along one generation late. I had missed all the great times and adventures in flight.

If that's there, I believe that technology will probably step up to their part of it.

Research is creating new knowledge.

The one thing I regret was that my work required an enormous amount of my time, and a lot of travel.

I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.

I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.

I thought the attractions of being an astronaut were actually, not so much the Moon, but flying in a completely new medium.

It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.

Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.

The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.

I'm substantially concerned about the policy directions of the space agency. We have a situation in the U.S. where the White House and Congress are at odds over what the future direction should be. They're sort of playing a game and NASA is the shuttlecock that they're hitting back and forth.