When The Time Comes To Start Building

You Need Propellants To Accelerate Toward Mars, Then To Decelerate At Mars, Again To Re-accelerate From Mars To Earth, And Finally To Decelerate Back At Earth. Accordingly, The Mass Of These Required Propellants, In Short, Drives Our Need For Innovative Launch Vehicles.

As Time Goes By, I'm Increasingly Impressed By How Very Special And Timely It Was That We Got The Degree Of National Commitment Needed To Put People On The Moon. For The First Time, This Nation Was United In Trying To Develop An Interplanetary Capability. We've Been Trying To Repeat That Situation Ever Since.

I'm Convinced That Sending People To Mars Is So Expensive That If You Go Once And Bring The People Back And Then Go Again And Bring The People Back, We're Eventually Going To Run Out Of Money. But What If We Send People The First Time And They Don't Come Back? What If They Stay There?

I Shot Down Two Airplanes In Korea, So I Wasn't A Slouch.

What Are You Going To Do With Astronauts Who First Reach The Surface Of Mars And Then Turn Around And Rocket Back Home-ward? What Are They Going To Do, Write Their Memoirs? Would They Go Again? Having Them Repeat The Voyage, In My View, Is Dim-witted. Why Don't They Stay There On Mars?