The countdown reached ten seconds and I could almost hear an invisible crescendo of stirring background music. ‘Anchors aweigh!’ Five, four, three, two, one… and we had ignition! Gene Cernan Read Quote
Mom was always doing something for somebody. She came from a Czech background, one that made her a devout Catholic and gave her a strong belief in the family. Gene Cernan Read Quote
We found out the Gemini spacesuit was, well, oxygen was flowing to keep me cool as well as to breathe, and it wasn’t good enough. My visor got fogged. Gene Cernan Read Quote
Am I willing to go to Mars? Yes, but I’m not willing to spend nine months getting there, then wait 18 more months until the planets align to come home. Gene Cernan Read Quote
We leave as we came and, god willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind. Gene Cernan Read Quote
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. Gene Cernan Read Quote
Chemical propulsion is obsolete to go anywhere other than the moon. Three days – that’s acceptable. But for Mars, we need propulsion technologies to get us there in, say, 60 days – then spend whatever length of time we want to spend and return when we want to come home. Gene Cernan Read Quote
After Apollo 17, America stopped looking towards the next horizon. The United States had become a space-faring nation, but threw it away. We have sacrificed space exploration for space exploitation, which is interesting but scarcely visionary. Gene Cernan Read Quote
