Kip Thorne Quotes

The space program is not only scientific in purpose but also is an expression of man's insistent determination to do the nearly impossible - to explore the unknown, even at great risk.

The Space Program is an investment of the nation’s future…. Humans will not be confined to this planet forever.

When the history books are written in a thousand years, when space travel would have become routine, the moment that humans first left Earth will be of huge importance. Star City is a central part of this story and it deserves more recognition.

From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle; we just decided to go.

I want manned spaceflight, not just back to the Moon, but beyond that. And I want my daughters and my son to have their own July 20, 1969, to remember. Apollo 11 didn't give us wings; it only showed us how far the wings we had would take us.

It's clear that the only thing that is inhibiting us from doing further human exploration of space is money and the will to do it.

I think a lot of the American people feel more than a little disappointed that the high-water mark for human exploration was 1969. The dream of human space travel has almost died for a lot of people.

Retain the vision for space exploration. If we turn our backs on the vision again, we're going to have to live in a secondary position in human space flight for the rest of the century.

Space is going to be commonplace.

We will certainly see teachers, journalists, artists and poets in space. Whatever it takes to the be the best is what it will take to get you into space.

You don't go into space just for the science. Economically, it is not worth it. I think the reason we should be in space is for the exploration; it's the human endeavour.

I don't think the space station is innovative. Going to the moon was innovative because we had no idea how to do it.

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here – our hopes and our journeys continue.

It's not a matter of if we're going to go to Mars, it's a matter of when.

I believed that once we got to the Moon, there was no stopping us. But in fact, we did stop.

From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle; we just decided to go.

If you want a nation to have space exploration ambitions, you've got to send humans.

The guys who walk on Mars are going to be historic.

We must still think of ourselves as pioneers to understand the importance of space.

Everyone, red state, blue state, everyone supports space exploration.

Throughout history, when societies have been faced with big challenges, they've put their best people on them. During the Space Race, American and Russian scientists, engineers, astronauts and cosmonauts pushed the bounds of what was possible and landed men on the moon.

I've always been interested in space and the idea of exploration in that area since I was a child growing up through the '60s.

It's not going to do any good to land on Mars if we're stupid.

Not everyone will understand this need for America to lead the world in space.