Sally Ride Quotes

I first told my parents that I wanted to be an astronaut when I was 3 years old.

I grew up in Spokane, Washington, and I can't recall ever not wanting to be an astronaut.

I saw this movie 'The Right Stuff' when I was in college, and it really rekindled my interest in being an astronaut. I started taking those steps, and then I realized it would be the chance of a lifetime. It would be a dream life: not just a job, but the whole life.

I had always been interested in the space program, and I didn't know if I could be an astronaut like I'd dreamt about when I was a little kid - to me it sounded kind of silly, someone grow up to be an astronaut - but, when I was in my 20s, I thought maybe I can get a job with NASA or a contractor, do something with the space program.

Most of us at least briefly considered answering, 'An astronaut,' when asked as children what we wanted to be when we grew up.

What guy didn't want to be an astronaut growing up?

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

Well, for me it really wasn't a case of deciding to be an astronaut.

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

It so happened that my goals kind of matched my career progression toward becoming an astronaut.

I can't think of anything specific growing up that pointed me toward NASA at all. I was interested in the Moon landings just about the same as everyone else of my generation. But I never really thought about being an astronaut or working in space myself.

When I got to college, I discovered how many incredible opportunities NASA offered students pursuing a career in the space industry.

Spoiler alert: I did not become an astronaut.

Aviation - and space travel, in particular - have always been especially captivating.

If my vision was good enough, I'd be an astronaut.

I think I was very interested in the space program as a kid, watching the first Apollo missions to the moon, and it's something I thought that would be a lot of, of fun and exciting and a very worthwhile job.

I've put a lot of my life into making it possible to fly in space at all.

We constantly learn new lessons up here. The experiences we gather will enable us to establish a long-term station on the moon and to go on to Mars.

I didn't go into the NASA program to pick up rocks or to go the moon or anything else. I went in there because I was a military officer, and that was the next notch in my profession.

To become an astronaut, someone has to have a dream of his own to do something that he or she has always wanted to do, then commit himself to making that dream come true.

Rockets are cool. There's no getting around that.

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

I've always loved airplanes and flight. The space program was really important to me as a kid. I still have a photo of Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon in my living room.

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

By my mid-30s, I just thought, 'This is not going to happen. I am never going to become an astronaut in the U.K.'