Shuttle Program Quotes:

Instead of planning the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, America should be preparing the shuttles for their next step in space: evolving, not shutting them down and laying off thousands of people.

- Buzz Aldrin

source: "Why We Should Keep Flying the Space Shuttle" by Buzz Aldrin, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 18, 2010.

topic: Retirement, America, Space, Space Shuttle, Shuttle Program

After the Challenger accident, NASA put in a lot of time to improve the safety of the space shuttle to fix the things that had gone wrong.

- Sally Ride

topic: Space, Safety, Gone, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Challenger

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

- Buzz Aldrin

source: "A Mission To Mars". Interview with David Levin, www.pbs.org. November 18, 2010.

topic: Thinking, Space, Expectations, Space Shuttle, International Space Station

No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.

- Sally Ride

topic: Thinking, Space, Risk, Space Shuttle, Shuttle Program

The thing I'll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I'm sure it was the most fun that I'll ever have in my life.

- Sally Ride

topic: Fun, Space, Facts, Space Program, Space Shuttle

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features and book-length manuals, and cars with dashboard systems worthy of the space shuttle.

- James Surowiecki

topic: Book, Technology, Space, Space Shuttle, Digital Cameras

When I was a kid, I was a bit of a space geek. I loved the space program and all things NASA. I would read books about our solar system; I had pictures of the Space Shuttle on my bedroom wall. And yes, I even went to Space Camp.

- Simon Sinek

source: "Look On The Bright Side" by Simon Sinek, www.askmen.com.

topic: Wall, Book, Kids, Space Program, Bedroom Wall

All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.

- Sally Ride

source: Sally Ride, Susan Okie (1986). “To Space & Back”

topic: Travel, Adventure, History, Unfamiliar Territory, New Territory

We're going to go to the moon. We're going to go on to Mars. We're going to set up a base on the moon. OK, but no money to pay for it, nothing in the budget for it. And so the decision made at that time was to cancel the whole shuttle program to save money, which I think was very, very short sighted.

- John Glenn

source: Source: www.npr.org

topic: Moon, Thinking, Decision, Short Sighted, Shuttle Program

The vast majority of the shuttle program was a success. We learned so much about how a reusable spacecraft interacts with its environment, how it ages-and what to design next time.

- Eileen Collins

topic: Moon, Design, Age, Spacecraft, Shuttle Program

Having three operational vehicles in the fleet affords the shuttle program great schedule flexibility as we move toward flying safely and completing the international space station.

- Wayne Hale

topic: Moving, Space, Flying, International Space Station, Shuttle Program

In the space shuttle program, where we had males and females, I can tell you that nobody was doing that [sex] because there's absolutely no privacy. The only privacy would have been in the air lock, but everybody would know what you were doing. You're not out there doing a spacewalk. There's no reason to be in there.

- Mike Mullane

topic: Sex, Air, Space, Space Shuttle, Shuttle Program