There are some things worthy of risking your life for.
— John M. Grunsfeld
A lot of people get home from work and sink into a good chair, the place in their life where they feel most comfortable. I get that comfort in space, the place where I most feel like I belong.
What we do at NASA is inspiring. It's reaching, it's visionary, and it inspires people on Earth to try hard things.
One of the things that happens in space is that there is a fluid shift. You get a lot of extra pressure, and it fills your sinuses, and the horseradish is a miracle worker for cleaning that out.
The Martian atmosphere is very thin. It's like our atmosphere at 100,000 feet.
At the age of six, I declared that I wanted to be an astronaut. My mother thought that was just fine, as it would encourage me to learn science, and besides, there really was no chance I would ever actually become an astronaut.
The '60s were a remarkable time because several things were happening at once. Men were leaving planet Earth, kids were breaking into the television age, and I was able to see Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.
We're being very careful that we don't send a spacecraft to Mars with the intention of detecting Martian life - and find out that we detected the Earth life that we took with us.
The team at the Space Telescope Science Institute has a demonstrated record of meeting the high-performance challenges of operating the Hubble Space Telescope and preparing for the James Webb Space Telescope.
The biggest honor is to be an astronaut. It's such a tremendous privilege to be able to represent humankind in our quest to explore space.
Once in a while, the universe lets you be free alone and in peace.
Being an astronaut, there are not a lot of things that have really shocked me in my life.
The things I like to do involve a lot of mental focus, a combination of physical and mental challenge. That is what mountain climbing is.
Our country... invests a tiny fraction of 1 percent in NASA, and this is what's so amazing to me, is with that small investment, we do so much for the country.
Small bodies in our solar system, like comets and asteroids, help us understand how the solar system formed and provide opportunities to advance exploration.
The truth is, every single rocket launch off of planet Earth is risky.
All space exploration is risky. As an astronaut, I had to decide each and every time I went to space whether or not to risk my life for the mission.
As a young boy growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I was inspired by the nascent space age.
Here we were, the only seven humans in space, repairing a telescope whose only purpose is to enrich the minds of people on planet Earth and increase our understanding of the workings of the universe. I can think of no better peaceful use of space for all humankind.
Going to Mars would make NASA great again.
I look forward to working with the NASA team to help enable new discoveries in our quest to understand our home planet and unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Our journey in going beyond our home planet is a human endeavor, and in the greatest tradition of exploration, past, present, and future spacefarers will continue to be enduring catalysts for inspiration in our quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
The only reason Hubble works is because we have a space shuttle.
As soon as I could ride a bike... I was always riding over to the Museum of Science and Industry to explore. It's where I first began to develop a fascination with machines and scientific principles.
I think it's really a sign of great American strength that we do invest the money we do in technology, in these hard projects, in NASA.
The first thing to know about space food - it is the ambiance; it is the environment. It is not the food.
When people left on the Oregon Trail from St. Louis, they knew that only a fraction of them would make it to the West Coast. But they went anyway.
I have dedicated my life to answering the great scientific questions of our time and to the incredible adventure of space exploration.
Regardless of what dreams you have, work very hard, play very hard, and have fun.
InSight will get to the 'core' of the nature of the interior and structure of Mars, well below the observations we've been able to make from orbit or the surface.
The moon's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.
Science at NASA is all about exploring the endless frontier of the Earth and space.
I have had the privilege to be a member of many high-performance teams at NASA, both on and off the planet.
I got lucky and got assigned to Hubble.
