Also I didn’t habe 20/20 vision whch you needed to be a pilot. But I said you could still want something that is very unlikely to happen.

And in that moment, I was hit with the realization that this delicate layer of atmosphere is all that protects every living thing on Earth from perishing in the harshness of space.

A Kiss is a terrible name for a piece of chocolate shaped like a water droplet, because kisses are hot and would melt chocolate—even if it is wearing an astronaut suit made out of tinfoil.

Is there any other job that beats being an astronaut? Who didn’t want to be an astronaut? That is my question.

At this point I thought ‘We made it,’ by which I meant ‘We survived.’ I also was acutely aware that my childhood dream of flying into space had just come true.

I remember the first time I fogged up your astronaut’s helmet. That night we made space like outer love. But I kept it cool like Coors Light in the fridge, even though I felt heavy...

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...

I lay on my back, surprised at how calm and focused I felt, strapped to four and a half million pounds of explosives.

You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look...

I saw sunrises fade and burn among fleets of sparks. The moon blossomedlike a lily carved of bone…The Death of the Astronaut, page 390.

Gravity hurts

Yes, there have been ET visitations. There have been crashed craft. There have been material and bodies recovered. There has been a certain amount of reverse engineering that has allowed some of these craft, or...

If we adopt the same collaborative mindset and practices that got to the moon and back, and that built the International Space Station, we can alleviate poverty—and do much more.

Gravity hurts.

I live a single life. But only because there’s not enough room in my astronaut suit for two. There’s no love on the moon.

Open collaboration encourages greater accountability, which in turn fosters trust.

Ben had never seen his mother cry before, and it startled him, so he didn’t ask again. Right afterward she’d put on her favorite record and played a mysterious song called “Space Oddity,” about an...

we roar along the rust belts——the great red spot——the polar vortex——the caress of solar flares——ruffle the molten methane and ammonia oceans of me——the storm-riven non-surface of me and mine——that which you call skin——a threadbare term...

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be an astronaut.

We are limited only by our imagination and our will to act.

Collaboration begins with mutual understanding and respect.

She has a body for years, and I have an astronaut tan. When we make love it will be like (x + 2)(2x -1) = 0, solve for x.

Earth is a small town with many neighborhoods in a very big universe.

When I was nine, I wanted to be an astronaut but at that time there weren’t any Canadian astronauts. You had to be American or Soviet. So many things will be possible in your lifetimes.

I truly believe if the governor told her she should be an Astronaut, she would do her best to become one. I was struck by the tremendous impact you have on the children whose lives...

This was exactly what I experienced in space: immense gratitude for the opportunity to see Earth from this vantage, and for the gift of the planet we’ve been given.

From out there on the moon, international politics looks so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck, drag him a quarter of a million miles out, and say, ‘Look...

I meet people to know I’m not alone, and I network like an astronaut on the moon. Tom James is the Neil Armstrong of #Networking.

A partner’s different perspective is valuable, but the very fact that it is different means that it will require work, humility, time, and resources to incorporate that perspective. At times, this will require checking one’s...

Some say God is living there [in space]. I was looking around very attentively, but I did not see anyone there. I did not detect either angels or gods….I don’t believe in God. I believe...

Curiosity is the essence of our existence.

Everyone I have spoken with about working with the Russians in space exploration believes that the United States has learned a great deal from Russia and that Russia has learned a great deal from the...

I actually wanted to be an astronaut, but I don’t have a mathematical brain.