All space exploration is risky. As an astronaut, I had to decide each and every time I went to space whether or not to risk my life for the mission.Collection: Space
There is no stronger case for the motivational power of real science than the discoveries that come from the Hubble Space Telescope as it unravels the mysteries of the universe.Collection: Motivational
Sometimes astronauts feel a little ill or get minor scrapes. I trained as a crew medical officer to do basic treatment.Collection: Medical
I believe that the future of humans, and the future of Earth, depends on space exploration. That's not a French problem, or a problem for Alabama: it's a planet-wide problem. International cooperation is crucial.Collection: Space
The James Webb Space Telescope was specifically designed to see the first stars and galaxies that were formed in the universe.Collection: Space
Hubble isn't just a satellite; it's about humanity's quest for knowledge.Collection: Knowledge
Science fiction has been an inspiration to generations of scientists and engineers, and the film series 'Star Wars' is no exception.
If I could live in space, I would definitely do that.
There's no question that if we stay on planet Earth and never leave, that eventually we'll be wiped out.
It's pretty amazing to me that we have had a space shuttle program that's lasted for 30 years - for one space shuttle. That's quite an achievement.
The strangest thing I've found is that when I got to space, I felt more comfortable in space that I've ever been on Earth before. I just felt this is my home.
Asteroid detection, tracking, and defense of our planet is something that NASA, its interagency partners, and the global community take very seriously.
The Hubble Space Telescope is more than remarkable. It has answered just so many of those fundamental questions that people have been asking about the cosmos since people were able to ask questions.
I think that space exploration as a broad activity is the most important things that humans can do. I've always found it fascinating, interesting, compelling, and I have a drive to go out into space.
Are we alone? Many, many people on planet Earth want to know. We are on the cusp of being able to answer that question... because of the investments we're making in space technology.
A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth.
I see no difference between scientific exploration and human exploration.
There's a perspective that I've gained as an astronaut that I didn't get from my science activities. In my science activities, I learned by the seat of my pants. Spending 17 years as an astronaut, I learned the NASA formalism of systems engineering as if my life depended on it. Literally.
The most striking thing to me about human space flight and my own personal experience is that I've seen dramatic changes on Earth. We humans are rapidly changing the planet. I've watched Amazonia as the rainforest has been cut down. That's something I've seen out the window. I'm very worried about that.
We don't know how many planets we're going to have to examine before we find life, and not finding it on 10 or 100 doesn't mean it's not there. This may be very tricky.
Hubble has really opened our eyes to what the universe is made of, its structure, and has helped us learn how little we know about the universe.
I kind of feel like I found my cause in life servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
Hubble showed us the marvel and majesty of stars being born.
The James Webb Space Telescope was specifically designed to see the first stars and galaxies that were formed in the universe. So we're gonna see the snapshot of when stars started. When galaxies started. The very first moments of the universe. And my bet? There's gonna be some big surprises.
The Hubble Space Telescope, which was designed for extreme servicing, you know, we can fix everything. And the James Webb Space Telescope, where we can fix nothing. It has to work the first time. And it's a very complicated telescope.
Hubble uniquely has been able to look in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a nearby star and figure out what's in that atmosphere.
When I grew up as a kid, we didn't know there were any other planets outside of our own solar system. It was widely speculated that planet formation was an incredibly rare event and that it's possible that other planets just don't exist in our galaxy, and it's just this special situation where we happen to have planets around our sun.
Because of Hubble and other telescopes, we've now discovered that there are probably planets around every star, or virtually every star. There are solar systems around most stars. And the fact that we're here on a planet, Earth, means that it's likely there's lots of other Earths out there.
When I first went to Hubble, as an astronomer and as a scientist, it was a dream come true. And as an astronaut, the Hubble missions are premiere missions because Hubble is so important to science, so important to humanity, that it's just a very special event. But as an astronomer, it was sort of the holy grail of missions.
Only by studying large numbers of people can we figure out, are astronauts dying at a higher rate of cancer, and what types of cancers, than other people?
What we do at NASA is inspiring. It's reaching, it's visionary, and it inspires people on Earth to try hard things.
The surface of Mars is bathed in ultraviolet light, bathed in radiation. Mars's magnetic field is essentially gone, so the surface of Mars is essentially sterilized.
The moon's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.
Being an astronaut, there are not a lot of things that have really shocked me in my life.
I got lucky and got assigned to Hubble.
The only reason Hubble works is because we have a space shuttle.
Once in a while, the universe lets you be free alone and in peace.
I have had the privilege to be a member of many high-performance teams at NASA, both on and off the planet.
Our journey in going beyond our home planet is a human endeavor, and in the greatest tradition of exploration, past, present, and future spacefarers will continue to be enduring catalysts for inspiration in our quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
The biggest honor is to be an astronaut. It's such a tremendous privilege to be able to represent humankind in our quest to explore space.
Science at NASA is all about exploring the endless frontier of the Earth and space.
I look forward to working with the NASA team to help enable new discoveries in our quest to understand our home planet and unravel the mysteries of the universe.
The team at the Space Telescope Science Institute has a demonstrated record of meeting the high-performance challenges of operating the Hubble Space Telescope and preparing for the James Webb Space Telescope.
Going to Mars would make NASA great again.
We're being very careful that we don't send a spacecraft to Mars with the intention of detecting Martian life - and find out that we detected the Earth life that we took with us.
InSight will get to the 'core' of the nature of the interior and structure of Mars, well below the observations we've been able to make from orbit or the surface.
Here we were, the only seven humans in space, repairing a telescope whose only purpose is to enrich the minds of people on planet Earth and increase our understanding of the workings of the universe. I can think of no better peaceful use of space for all humankind.
The '60s were a remarkable time because several things were happening at once. Men were leaving planet Earth, kids were breaking into the television age, and I was able to see Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.
Regardless of what dreams you have, work very hard, play very hard, and have fun.
As a young boy growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I was inspired by the nascent space age.