A star-gazing, rocket-riding, moon-walking quote collection

The new socialist society turns even the most daring of man's dreams into a reality.

— TASS press statement regards Sputnik 1, man's first satellite in orbit, 4 October 1557.

There is no easy way to the stars from the earth.

— Seneca, in original Latin "Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." 'Hercules Furens.'

All right. Let's get on with it!

— T. Keith Glennan, first NASA administrator, regarding the space program, 7 October 1958.

We all feel that there's a lot more to this thing than just being Number One, though we all want that. The Number One man will be the tool of our close-knit team. We're just getting started here with space programs that will continue as long as man can pick himself up and go. And we're all going to get a chance to make some contribution. There will be a lot of firsts: the first man on a ballistic firing, the first man into orbit, the first man to orbit the Moon, the first man to land on the Moon. The public enthusiasm in this thing so far has surprised me. If we don't keep moving, maybe the Russians are going to win a few of these blue ribbons.

— Gordon Cooper, 'Life' magazine, 1959.

To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage, single-handed, in an unprecedented duel with nature—could one dream of anything more?

— Yuri Gagarin (Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин), speaking in Moscow prior to flight, 1961

I am a friend, comrades, a friend!

— Yuri A. Gagarin, first words on the ground after first spaceflight, to a woman and a girl nearby, 12 April 1961.

The woman replied: Can it be that you have come from outer space?
Yuri: As a matter of fact, I have!

The Soviet Union has become the seacoast of the universe.

— Sergei Korolev

I am eagle, I am eagle!

— Gherman Titov (Герман Степанович Титов), Russia’s second astronaut.

Why don't you fix your little problem and light this candle?

— Alan B. Shepard Jr., to Mission Control regards another delay during his four hour sit atop the 10-story, 33-ton Redstone rocket while last-minute problems were being fixed. Cape Canaveral Air Station, just prior to the United States' first manned space mission, 5 May 1961.

A-OK full go.

— Commander Alan Shepard Jr., on blast-off of rocket carrying him aloft as America's first man in space, 5 May 1961. Defined as an engineering term for 'double OK' or perfect, it became a U.S. idiom for 'everything is going smoothly' and was later attributed by the Associated Press (New York Times, 31 July 1963) to Lieutenant-Colonel John Powers, public spokesman for astronauts.

On the periscope . . . . What a beautiful view. Cloud cover over Florida - three to four tenths near the eastern coast. Obscured up to Hatteras . . . I can see [lake] Okeechobee. Identify Andros Island. Identify the reefs.

— Commander Alan Shepard Jr., Freedom 7 rocket ride, 5 May 1961.

Godspeed, John Glenn.

— Scott Carpenter, spoken as Friendship 7 lifted off, but not over the ground-to-air circuit and so not heard by John Glenn, 20 February 1962. From 'God Spede you,' or God prosper you, which is a 15th century Middle English expression of good wishes to a person starting a journey.

Zero G and I feel fine.

— John Glenn, first American in orbit. NASA scientists were still debating how humans would handle long periods of zero g, and there were many health concerns. Glenn's line from Earth orbit directly addressed these concerns, 20 February 1962

I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.

— John Glenn

That was a real fireball.

— John Glenn, re-entry, 20 February 1962

I am a stranger. I come in peace. Take me to your leader and there will be a massive reward for you in eternity.

— Note carried by John Glenn on his historic flight, translated into several languages, for use if he splashed down in the remote South Pacific seas.

We are gliding across the world in total silence, with absolute smoothness; a motion of stately grace which makes me feel godlike as I stand erect in my sideways chariot, cruising the night sky.

— Michael Collins, regards his Gemini 10 spacewalk, 'Carrying The Fire.'

Feeling weightless . . . it's so many things together. A feeling of pride, of healthy solitude, of dignified freedom from everything that's dirty, sticky. You feel exquisitely comfortable . . . and you feel you have so much energy, such an urge to do things, such an ability to do things. And you work well, yes, you think well, without sweat, without difficulty as if the biblical curse in the sweat of thy face and in sorrow no longer exists, As if you've been born again.

— Wally Schirra.

In order for us to use the very best judgment possible in spending the taxpayer's money intelligently, we just have to do a certain amount of this research and development work ourselves. We just have to keep our own hands dirty to command the professional respect of the contractor personnel engaged with actual design, shop and testing work.

— Wernher von Braun, speech to the Sixteenth National Conference on the Management of Research, 18 September 1962

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

— Arthur C. Clarke, 'Profiles of the Future,' 1962.

The Earth was absolutely round . . . I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space.

— Alexei Leonov, regards his 18 March 1985 historic first spacewalk, interview 1980.

I'm coming back in . . . and it's the saddest moment of my life.

— Ed White, on being told to re-enter the Gemini capsule, ending America's first spacewalk, 3 June 1965.