As a young boy growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I was inspired by the nascent space age.

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.

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.

Our country... invests a tiny fraction of 1 percent in NASA, and this is what's so amazing to me, is with that small investment, we do so much for the country.

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.

To help enable the kind of science Hubble is performing makes my life worthwhile.

Absolutely the most fun thing to do in space and rewarding thing, in many ways, is to look back at planet Earth.

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.

Small bodies in our solar system, like comets and asteroids, help us understand how the solar system formed and provide opportunities to advance exploration.

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.

I got lucky and got assigned to Hubble.

The best would be to fly in space with family and friends.

There are some things worthy of risking your life for.

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.

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.

Getting a team of scientists on Mars could be transformative.

I think it's really a sign of great American strength that we do invest the money we do in technology, in these hard projects, in NASA.

Life outside of Earth is probably going to be really hard to find.

One of the things that happens in space is that there is a fluid shift. You get a lot of extra pressure, and it fills your sinuses, and the horseradish is a miracle worker for cleaning that out.

What we do at NASA is inspiring. It's reaching, it's visionary, and it inspires people on Earth to try hard things.

I don't particularly want to jump out of an airplane with a parachute if I don't have to. I don't want to go bungee jumping. I like adventure with a real purpose that I can buy into.

The first thing to know about space food - it is the ambiance; it is the environment. It is not the food.

Being an astronaut, there are not a lot of things that have really shocked me in my life.

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.

At the age of six, I declared that I wanted to be an astronaut. My mother thought that was just fine, as it would encourage me to learn science, and besides, there really was no chance I would ever actually become an astronaut.

The Martian atmosphere is very thin. It's like our atmosphere at 100,000 feet.

The things I like to do involve a lot of mental focus, a combination of physical and mental challenge. That is what mountain climbing is.

Sometimes astronauts feel a little ill or get minor scrapes. I trained as a crew medical officer to do basic treatment.

We need to move off the planet. And Mars is the next best place.

I'm an incurable romantic. But I'm not an adrenaline junkie.

I thrive with high-performance challenges in front of me.

I'm absolutely compelled for NASA to send international astronauts to Mars to find out if Mars ever harbored life.

If I could live in space, I would definitely do that.

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.

Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble.

Don't worry about the horse being blind, just load the wagon.

The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.

I was introduced to the Turducken in New Orleans. And it wasn't Thanksgiving. Glenn at the Gourmet Butcher Block brought it by, and I had never heard of it or had seen one, and they put it in the booth, and it smelled so good that I had to taste it. And it was good. Then Thanksgiving came, and we got one in addition to the traditional turkey.

I've always said winning's the great deodorant, and conversely, when you have a bad record, everything stinks, and everything starts to unravel, and everything falls apart.

I was in New York on September 11 when those planes hit the World Trade Center. At the time, it seemed like it was a local thing. But three or four days later, by the time we drove across the country in the bus, we realized it wasn't a local thing. You could really feel the states become united. We became the United States of America.

When the going gets tough, I'm not always sure what you do. I'm not saying that I know how to fix everything when the going gets tough, but I do know this: when the going goes tough, you don't quit. And you don't fold up. And you don't go in the other direction.

The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break.

I'm not afraid of flying; I just fear I'm going to die. I think I'm - vulnerable. I admit it. I don't fly. I got claustrophobia. I don't go in high buildings. I don't do those things. I'm just myself, whatever that is.

Since 1981, I've spent every Thanksgiving Day broadcasting a game, and it is one of my favorite days. You can say, 'Woe is me, I never get to be part of the tradition,' or you can say, 'Heck, we've got our own tradition, and it's pretty good.'

Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear.

If you play the video game, you become more interested and you want to know more about it. You want to read as much about it as you can, see it live and watch as many games as you can. If you're the type who wants to be as involved as you can in the sport, you're probably going to want to play 'Madden NFL.'

I've often said, 'If I had one drive to win a game to this day, and I had a quarterback to pick, I would pick Kenny.' Snake was a lot cooler than I was. He was a perfect quarterback and a perfect Raider. When you think about the Raiders, you think about Ken Stabler.

When I got out of coaching, I had taught a class at the University of California, an extension class on football for fans. I was looking for tools. I was showing them films. I was going to write a textbook. Trip Hawkins came to me about making it a game for computers.

I never watched TV because I was always doing a game. I didn't have any experience to be home watching games. I didn't know how to do it. Brent Musburger and those guys could sit and watch every game and know the scores. And I was amazed and said, 'I'd like to have something like that someday.'