Is The Destiny Of The Human Species

I Expected The Unexpected And Went [on The Moon] With An Open Mind. I Think The Visual Scene Was Described By My Words On First Landing - "magnificent Desolation." Magnificent For The Achievement Of Being There, And Desolate For The Eons Of Lifelessness.

I Think We Need To Move To The Moons Of Mars And Learn How To Control Robots That Are On The Surface. It's Not The Impatient Way Of Getting There, But Mars Has Been There A Long Time.

Space Is Not Just Going Up And Coming Back Down Again. Space Is Getting Into Orbit And Being There, Living There, Establishing A Presence, A Permanence.

I Think There Would Be No Shortage Of Applicants To The Government Astronaut Corps To Be Settlers On The Planet Mars. And I Think This Would Be Very Inspiring.

Long-term, I See Robotics Prevailing On The Moon. . . . The Most Important Decision We'll Have To Make About Space Travel Is Whether To Commit To A Permanent Human Presence On Mars. Without It, We'll Never Be A True Space-faring People.