I know you're all saying I can go to the moon but I can't find Pasadena. - Alan Shepard

I realized up there that our planet is not infinite. It's fragile. That may not be obvious to a lot of folks, and it's tough that people are fighting each other here on Earth instead of trying to get together and live on this planet. We look pretty vulnerable in the darkness of space.

The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.

I just wanted to be the first one to fly for America, not because I'd end up in the pages of history books.