Neil Armstrong

"I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream."

"I thought the attractions of being an astronaut were actually, not so much the Moon, but flying in a completely new medium."

"I'm substantially concerned about the policy directions of the space agency. We have a situation in the U.S. where the White House and Congress are at odds over what the future direction should be. They're sort of playing a game and NASA is the shuttlecock that they're hitting back and forth."

"If that's there, I believe that technology will probably step up to their part of it."

"In much of society, research means to investigate something you do not know or understand."

"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small."

"NASA has been one of the most successful public investments in motivating students to do well and achieve all they can achieve. It's sad that we are turning the programme in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation and stimulation it provides to young people."

"Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10."

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

"The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited."

"The one thing I regret was that my work required an enormous amount of my time, and a lot of travel."