Andrew Chaikin Quotes (11 Quotes)

The big difference between NASA of the '60s and NASA of the '90s is that in every way NASA was a young organization back then, ... not only in a demographic sense but also in terms of the life of the agency.

This time, it's personal. This space race is about getting 'us' into space.

They met the challenge. They met it beautifully. The energy that flowed through NASA at that time, the excitement, the adrenaline, it all stemmed from the fact that space had become very crucial to the nation's reputation and strength in the world.

I can tell you with some degree of confidence that in the next millennium we'll see human beings walk on other planets and even perhaps go to other stars,

But I can't tell you when we'll go back to the moon. I think it'll be in the next 50 years, but I don't know. I sure hope we get space tourism before I get too old.

We went to the moon at the very earliest moment when it was possible. In fact, now that it's over it seems like a fairy tale. It's almost like (President) Kennedy yanked a decade out of the 21st century and spliced it into the '60s.

It was like telling a high school team that in eight years they were going to have to win the World Series. It's not impossible but not something that you would necessarily think they could do.

After the third mission, Apollo became not a gateway to exploration, but a singular moment, ... From Earth to the Moon.

The flight controllers, the people who manned the trenches in mission control, these were kids. They were in their 20s and 30s. And they were controlling a moon mission.

NASA had to adjust to that cruel reality.

It's sort of a house of cards in the sense that all of the hopes for human space flight have been pinned on that station,