Buzz Aldrin

My Sunday mornings are spent in a recovery meeting in Pacific Palisades.

Before deciding what to do about national space policy, Obama set up an outside review panel of space experts, headed up by my friend Norm Augustine, former head of Lockheed Martin and a former government official.

There's no doubt who was a leader in space after the Apollo Program. Nobody came close to us. And our education system, in science, technology, engineering and math, was at the top of the world. It's no longer there. We're descending rather rapidly.

I grew up in New Jersey and never went up the Statue of Liberty.

A mind concerned about danger is a clouded mind. It's paralyzing.

I am Buzz Lightyear!

What are you going to do with astronauts who first reach the surface of Mars and then turn around and rocket back home-ward? What are they going to do, write their memoirs? Would they go again? Having them repeat the voyage, in my view, is dim-witted. Why don't they stay there on Mars?

Just as Mars - a desert planet - gives us insights into global climate change on Earth, the promise awaits for bringing back to life portions of the Red Planet through the application of Earth Science to its similar chemistry, possibly reawakening its life-bearing potential.

With his deeds, not only words, President Obama has revitalized our struggling space program.

Look at what Silicon Valley has done - the advance of computers.

There are many people talking about access to space and, 'How can we make that cheaper? How can we turn that into a Southwest Airlines versus the big airlines?'

I do celebrity ski races all over the world.

Ray Bradbury is one who is contributing to the understanding of the imagination and the curiosity of the human race.

The way I see it, what is going to come out of the moon activities is a respect for U.S. leadership.

In Mars, we've been given a wonderful set of moons... where we can send continuous numbers of people.

Space tourism is a logical outgrowth of the adventure tourist market.

I remember it was hard to believe that I was taking a step onto the lunar surface.

You need propellants to accelerate toward Mars, then to decelerate at Mars, again to re-accelerate from Mars to Earth, and finally to decelerate back at Earth. Accordingly, the mass of these required propellants, in short, drives our need for innovative launch vehicles.

Heavy lifting doesn't need to be heavy spending if we do the job right.

Fighter pilots have ice in their veins. They don't have emotions. They think, anticipate. They know that fear and other concerns cloud your mind from what's going on and what you should be involved in.

Going to Mars would evolve humankind into a two-planet species.

Russia perhaps is still entertaining the possibility that the moons of Mars might have access to ice or water.

Growing up, I was fascinated with Buck Rogers' airplanes. As I began to mature in World War II, it became jets and rocket planes. But it was always in the air.

Maybe it was the challenge of flight, the opportunity to fly, the competition of summer camp and the inspiration and discipline of West Point. I think all of those things helped me to develop a dedication and inspired me to get ahead.

There were about six years when there was not one American who went into space. We shouldn't do that again.

Everyone should take their hats off to Neil Armstrong. He is a humble guy who doesn't wave his own flag.

Mars is the symbolic and totally stimulating next objective that could so dominate the next century's exploration efforts. From Mars, the resources of all the asteroids will become readily available.

By venturing into space, we improve life for everyone here on Earth - scientific advances and innovations that come from this kind of research create products we use in our daily lives.

I was motivated to improve the U.S. strategy of going back to the moon in 1985. That's a long time ago. Going back to the moon would be a great achievement for tourism adventure flights.

Let's not spend resources that we don't need to be sending astronauts back to the moon. Let's not spend expensive resources on bringing people who have reached Mars back again. Prepare them to become a growing colony.

The beauty of Hawaii probably surpasses other places. I like the Big Island and the two mountains, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, where you can look out at the stars.

Having walked on the Moon, I know something about what we need to explore, really explore, in space.

My first biography written in '73 was not 'Journey To The Moon.' It was 'Return To Earth.' Because for me, that was the more difficult task - disappointment.

Do we really need these big, gigantic, heavy rockets? What if we launch a rocket that's empty, and its sole purpose is to act as a source of fuel on the Moon? Who should build that? Well, I think the U.S. should build that.

For the future, primarily, we must educate people in science, engineering, technology and math.

You can never tell when a commercial space venture will suddenly become viable.

I've led a life of such structured discipline and always had a goal in mind of knowing what I was doing, from West Point to the Air Force combat, MIT, looking for new things to study and get involved in. And then I got into the space program, and how disciplined can you get?

Walking around on the moon was significantly easier than we'd thought it would be. There weren't any balance problems, so you weren't tumbling over.

The first footfalls on Mars will mark a historic milestone, an enterprise that requires human tenacity matched with technology to anchor ourselves on another world.

I think there would be no shortage of applicants to the government astronaut corps to be settlers on the planet Mars. And I think this would be very inspiring.

There's a need for accepting responsibility - for a person's life and making choices that are not just ones for immediate short-term comfort. You need to make an investment, and the investment is in health and education.

I still say, 'Shoot for the moon; you might get there.'

I think humans will reach Mars, and I would like to see it happen in my lifetime.

There may be aliens in our Milky Way galaxy, and there are billions of other galaxies. The probability is almost certain that there is life somewhere in space.

Somebody would think I was trying to get favored treatment because my ancestors had the name Moon. And that's a joke.

Can you imagine, in 2030, taking a space cruise on the very ship that carried the first human beings to Mars? I can't believe that people wouldn't line up for that possibility.

I'm in favor of changing the destination of humans. There are a lot of manned missions that can be done, but not in the direction of the moon.

There are always door openings. And gradually, it accumulates. The opportunities open up in front of you.

My favourite thing to do on this planet is to scuba dive.

We could have human intelligence in orbit around Mars, building things there.

The decision to go to the moon is now appreciated and associated with President Kennedy's speech, but somebody else had told him it was a good idea. It turned out to be a good commitment, but it was a unique situation.

Space is not just going up and coming back down again. Space is getting into orbit and being there, living there, establishing a presence, a permanence.

I think both the space shuttle program and the International Space Station program have not really lived up to their expectations.

If we go back to the moon, we're guaranteed second, maybe third place because while we are spending all that money, Russia has its eye on Mars. Landing people on the moon will be terribly consuming of resources we don't have. It sounds great - 'Let's go back. This time we're going to stay.' I don't know why you would want to stay on the moon.

Astronauts working for the government will always need to be either pilots or mission specialists. Those who want to be pilots should have military experience - ideally, a test pilot background.

I've been to the Titanic in a yellow submarine and the North Pole in a Russian nuclear ice breaker.

I understand that Detroit was a pretty rough place to grow up in the '70s and '80s.

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

As we reflect back upon the tragic loss of Challenger and her brave crew of heroes who were aboard that fateful day, I am reminded that they truly represented the best of us, as they climbed aloft on a plume of propellant gasses, reaching for the stars, to inspire us who were Earthbound.

Space travel for everyone is the next frontier in the human experience.

When the time comes to start building deep space transports and refueling rocket tankers, it will be the commercial industry that steps up, not another government-owned, government-managed enterprise.

Landing in the ocean and waiting for the Navy to come alongside and haul you out of the drink is what space capsules require. And after the capsule is recovered, it would take weeks for the ship to return to port.

Save the taxpayer's money by canceling the Ares 1 and V.

My father's an early aviator, and my first flight was with him at age two. Now, despite the fact that I got sick on the flight, I still enjoyed it, I believe.

America can take man to the moon, and America can take men to Mars - and beyond.

I was the first Navy, Marine or Air Force person who had been an astronaut to return back to the Air Force. I had certain expectations about what would be a reasonable and desirable position to be assigned to after my years of service.

I have no intention of selling any more of the historical Apollo 11 items in my possession for the remainder of my life. I intend to pass a portion of these items on to my children and to loan the most important items for permanent display in suitable museums around the country.

To move forward whats required is a unified space agenda based on exploration science development commerce and security.

As someone who flew two space capsules and twice landed in the ocean, I can attest from personal experience how much logistics work is needed to get you home.

If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger.

We can't start over and develop a Saturn 5-type vehicle from scratch.

Because of his military service, Dad was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sending a couple of guys to the Moon and bringing them back safely? That's a stunt! That's not historic.

I don't think we're going to build a 50-person spacecraft or a 100-person spacecraft.

Armstrong described the lunar surface as 'beautiful.' I thought to myself, 'It's not really beautiful. It's magnificent that we're here, but what a desolate place we are visiting.'

The society of life on Mars, or the challenge of making Mars more livable, will have significant benefits on our attempts to modify and change in some ways the environment here on Earth.

Kids, help your parents if they don't know how to use a smartphone.

I think it's inevitable that there will be Earthlings establishing a presence on Mars. And I would say that it would certainly take place by 2050 or shortly thereafter.

NASA needs to focus on the things that are really important and that we do not know how to do. The agency is a pioneering force, and that is where its competitive advantage lies.

As we begin to have landings on the moon, we can alternate those with vertical launch of similar crew modules on similar launch vehicles for vertical-launch tourism in space, if you want to call it that... adventure travel.

Is the destiny of the human species to sit back and play with our mouse and computer and imagine, fantasize?

You can tell I'm not too bashful about some of my feelings.

I feel we need to remind the world about the Apollo missions and that we can still do impossible things.

Mars is much closer to the characteristics of Earth. It has a fall, winter, summer and spring. North Pole, South Pole, mountains and lots of ice. No one is going to live on Venus; no one is going to live on Jupiter.

To send humans back to the moon would not be advancing. It would be more than 50 years after the first moon landing when we got there, and we'd probably be welcomed by the Chinese. But we should return to the moon without astronauts and build, with robots, an international lunar base, so that we know how to build a base on Mars robotically.

Everyone who's been in space would, I'm sure, welcome the opportunity for a return to the exhilarating experiences there.

Pascal Lee is a true pioneer of Mars exploration.

If you want poets in space, you'll have to wait.

Mars could very well be a staging location for the resources of the asteroid belt. We have to learn how to get a payback somewhere, but it's beyond Mars that the real payoff will come from minerals.

My expertise is the space program and what it should be in the future based on my experience of looking at the transitions that we've made between pre-Sputnik days and getting to the moon.

Certainly, I've never wanted to live on past achievements.

When you're in a spacecraft, you need to know what things you can touch and what things you shouldn't touch!

Exploration is wired into our brains. If we can see the horizon we want to know whats beyond.

There's a historical milestone in the fact that our Apollo 11 landing on the moon took place a mere 66 years after the Wright Brothers' first flight.

Many say exploration is part of our destiny but its actually our duty to future generations and their quest to ensure the survival of the human species.

The life expectancy of people going to Mars may be decreased by the higher level of radiation that they receive.

Anything we can do in the near future that begins to stimulate the interest of people - seeing somebody down the street have an opportunity to go into space - buoys up the whole neighborhood.

We must still think of ourselves as pioneers to understand the importance of space.

Any observations from the Moon or a sense of realising this or that about the greater meaning of things wasn't as influential for me as the experience of coming back and dealing with being a person who's been to the Moon.

You are not going to change the minds of people who are looking for attention.