Quotes on Space

[AlamoVampire]

I just thought I would post some quotes on space and space exploration. I think we could all use a dose of this stuff every now and then

“Since, in the long run, every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.â€Â

― Carl Sagan

“A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a human being?â€Â

― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

“Decreasing the budget on the space exploration is nothing but a great treason to humanity! Space exploration is closely related to our very existence! Cut the budget on other things and increase the budget on the space exploration! Think great; if you do not think great, universe annihilates you!â€Â

― Mehmet Murat ildan

"It is not in our nature as human beings to sit back and say we have enough, that what we KNOW is enough. It is in our nature, down to our very DNA to explore, to seek that which is yet unknown. It is not for our personal glory that we seek the stars and their secrets, but for the glory that is Humanity. We go forth from our world in small steps to seek knowledge. We will yet take larger, longer strides into that cosmos. That is our duty. That is our destiny. That is our responsibility."

-- Alamovampire

Edited December 29, 2013 by AlamoVampire

[KASAGD]

all of your quotes just made me very sad

why couldn't USA have raced the USSR to mars

[razark]

why couldn't USA have raced the USSR to mars

Because the US got to the moon first, declared victory, and ended the race.

[astropapi1]

Because the US got to the moon first, declared victory, and ended the race.

Heh, there was a Planetballs comic ilustrating that.

USSR put the first satellite in orbit, first animal, first human, first station, first two-seater, first EVA, first bleh bleh bleh... But America landed the first person on the Moon and won the space race.

And to keep on topic...

“From out there on the Moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a b*tch.†- Ed Mitchel, Apollo 14.

(Don't ban me, he said it.)

[iDan122]

"that's no moon! That's a space station!"-Start wars ep. 4

"I'm just driving, let's go home!"

"I have a bad feeling about this mission..."

"you're loosing altitude Tiangong, you'll soon kiss the atmosphere, but I'll get n board you because you're my last ride!"

-all from Gravity (2013)

[hugix]

Space, space, spaaaaaccceeee

-Space personality core (Portal 2)

[Awaras]

The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision.

http://xkcd.com/893/

[nMitch]

"Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice....In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood."-William Saffire, Moon disaster speech.

[astropapi1]

"Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice....In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood."-William Saffire, Moon disaster speech.

Could you imagine if Nixon had to give that speech?

[PrISM]

So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant, you want to feel like a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive. -Neil deGrasse Tyson

[astropapi1]

"Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind." - Apollo 11 plaque.

[razark]

Could you imagine if Nixon had to give that speech?

Can you imagine what Michael Collins would have felt coming back to Earth alone?

[rpayne88]

Can you imagine what Michael Collins would have felt coming back to Earth alone?

IIRC, he said he wouldn't take his own life, but that he knew he would be a marked man for the rest of his life. No point dwelling on something that never happened, though.

[AlamoVampire]

IIRC, he said he wouldn't take his own life, but that he knew he would be a marked man for the rest of his life. No point dwelling on something that never happened, though.

but, at some point, we will have to cross a similar bridge, it is not a matter of IF we will lose souls in space, but a matter of WHEN, because it WILL happen. We can plan and train for most anything, but, in the end, as Apollo 1, 13, Challenger and Columbia have shown us, something can and WILL go wrong at some point.

[Camacha]

but, at some point, we will have to cross a similar bridge, it is not a matter of IF we will lose souls in space, but a matter of WHEN, because it WILL happen. We can plan and train for most anything, but, in the end, as Apollo 1, 13, Challenger and Columbia have shown us, something can and WILL go wrong at some point.

I think the best way to deal with it would be to vow to never let that happen again and carry on. We should do everything within reason to prevent casualties, but we should also accept them as part of the deal. We can accepts thousands of death a year for trivial things like transportation, so a few lives in the name of our species should not be a reason to end these projects. Again, it is very much undesirable, but we should not dwell on it.

[AlamoVampire]

We can vow to not let it happen again but the simple fact that we are sending men and women into the most hostile environment we can find. The end result will unavoidably be death at some point. Either from debris or micro meteor or catastrophic systems failure, it WILL happen. Dwell on it or not, its a fact we MUST accept in order to gain the knowledge we seek and must have to thrive and survive.

[Man in the Funny Hat]

"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." Douglas Adams

[astropapi1]

...you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's...

I've never understood that bit. What chemist?

[KASAGD]

I've never understood that bit. What chemist?

maybe he had a drug problem

[Awaras]

I've never understood that bit. What chemist?

Chemist's is what the british call a drugstore, I think.

[Pixel of Life]

Another thing that got forgotten was the fact that against all probability a sperm whale had suddenly been called into existence several miles above the surface of an alien planet.

And since this is not a naturally tenable position for a whale, this poor innocent creature had very little time to come to terms with its identity as a whale before it then had to come to terms with not being a whale any more.

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was "Oh no, not again". Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the universe than we do now.

/randomchars

[Kinglet]

"SSSSSPPPPPPAAAACCEEEEEEE!"

-Space Core.

[BlackBicycle]

"Earth is a crib of the mankind. But humankind cannot live in the crib forever"

Tziolkovsky