- Clinton Anderson: [at the senate inquiry following the Apollo 1 fire] Colonel, what caused the fire? I'm not talking about wires and oxygen. It seems that some people think that NASA pressured North American to meet unrealistic and arbitrary deadlines and that in turn North American allowed safety to be compromised.
- Frank Borman: I won't deny there's been pressure to meet deadlines, but safety has never been intentionally compromised.
- Clinton Anderson: Then what caused the fire?
- Frank Borman: A failure of imagination. We've always known there was the possibility of fire in a spacecraft. But the fear was that it would happen in space, when you're 180 miles from terra firma and the nearest fire station. That was the worry. No one ever imagined it could happen on the ground. If anyone had thought of it, the test would've been classified as hazardous. But it wasn't. We just didn't think of it. Now who's fault is that? Well, it's North American's fault. It's NASA's fault. It's the fault of every person who ever worked on Apollo. It's my fault. I didn't think the test was hazardous. No one did. I wish to God we had.
- [during the Apollo 1 hearings]
- Clinton Anderson: Now, before we all go home, is there any statement you personally would like to make?
- Frank Borman: I think I'm safe in speaking for all the astronauts when I say that we're confident in our management, we're confident in our training, in our engineering, and in ourselves. The real question is, are you confident in us?
- Clinton Anderson: What do you think we should do, Colonel?
- Frank Borman: I think you should stop this witch hunt and let us go to the Moon.
- [after Apollo 12 lands on the moon]
- Astronaut Pete Conrad: Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but it's a long one for me!
- James Webb: Surely the President realizes that the moment a man steps foot on the moon will be a definitive one in the history of the world.
- [after Kennedy vows to land a man on the moon by the end of the 60's]
- James Webb: Bob, can we do this?
- Bob Gilruth: Yes. Absolutely! We have to.
- [Reading telegrams to the Apollo 8 crew during their mission]
- Michael Collins: And we've got a telegram here from a Mrs. Valerie Pringle. I'm sure it's not a name that any of you recognize, it's just something that one of the Public Affairs people picked up 'cause he liked it. Mrs. Pringle writes, very simply, "You saved 1968."
- President John F. Kennedy: We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
- Guenter Wendt: We drill! We drill the hell out of everything. We drill and we drill until we know every step in our sleep - and then we drill some more.
- [after Apollo 11 lands]
- Buzz Aldrin: Houston, this is the LEM pilot... I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in - whoever and wherever they may be - to pause a moment and contemplate the events of the past few days. And to give thanks, in his or her own way.
- Gus Grissom: Our God-given curiosity will force us to go there ourselves, because in the final analysis, only Man can evaluate the Moon in terms understandable to other men.
- [discussing what Neil Armstrong will say when he steps onto the surface of the moon]
- Frank Borman: What are you guys gonna say?
- Michael Collins: If you had any balls, you'd say "Oh, my God, what is that thing?" then scream and cut your mike.
- Scientist: NASA stands for "Never Absolutely Sure of Anything."
- Ed White: [having been ordered to return to the Gemini capsule to conclude the first American spacewalk] I'm coming back in... and it's the saddest moment of my life.
- Ed White: [during his Gemini spacewalk] I could stay out here all day.
- Astronaut James McDivitt: Well, let's see what the Flight Director says.
- Chris Kraft: Flight Director says get back in!
- [During a NASA briefing]
- Chris Kraft: Rendezvous: two spacecraft meeting up in orbit. Want to have fun? Come over to my house. You stand in the back yard, I'll stand in the front, you throw a tennis ball over my roof and I'll try to hit it with a rock as it comes sailing over. That's what we're going to have to do.
- Frank Borman: Hey Neil, think John Glenn will be satisfied with just President?
- Neil Armstrong: Glenn for President, huh? Well, that'd depend. Who'd be running for King?
- [Shortly before Apollo 7 lifts off]
- Walt Cunningham: It's so quiet.
- Donn Eisele: Yeah. I wonder where Guenter Wendt.
- [about the Lunar Module]
- Astronaut James McDivitt: It's a beautiful machine, Tom!
- Tom Kelly: It is, isn't it?
- Rusty Schweikart: You really think that thing is beautiful?
- Astronaut James McDivitt: God no, it looks like a toaster oven with legs, but I'm not gonna tell him that.
- [Voiceover, describing the Apollo 12 mission]
- Al Bean: Flying with Pete and Dick was the best thing about the entire mission - we were a true team. Those men were, and are, my best friends.
- Deke Slayton: [Addressing the Apollo astronauts, who are wondering what the lineup will be] What I do know is the first man to walk on the moon walked into this room today - and is looking at me right now.
- [Quoting the Bible, after Apollo 11's landing]
- Buzz Aldrin: I am the vine and you are the branches... Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For you can do nothing without me.
- [During Buzz Aldrin's spacewalk in the Gemini 12 mission]
- Buzz Aldrin: Jim, I'm gonna clean your windshield.
- Jim Lovell: Hey Buzz, check the oil too, would ya?
- John Young: What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?
- Jim Lovell: Oh, hell, what did I say, Jim Lovell? I meant Max Peck.
- [During Apollo 8's liftoff]
- Frank Borman: First stage was smooth, this one's smoother.
- Jim Lovell: Smooth and smoother? Who are you kidding?
- Bill Anders: Yeah, that one felt like we'd been in a train wreck.
- Frank Borman: Kick in the pants, huh?
- President John F. Kennedy: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this time period will be more impressive to Mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
- [after Kennedy is assassinated]
- President Lyndon Johnson: A great leader is dead. A great nation must move on. And as we bow our heads in submission to divine providence, let us thank God for the years that He gave us inspiration, through His servant, John F. Kennedy.
- [about being the last man to set foot on the Moon]
- Jack Schmitt: It's not like I get stopped at restaurants.
- [Briefing the simulator room technicians during Apollo 11 training]
- Honeycutt: For the next three months you and I will do everything in our power to see that these men are able to land safely, which means that for the next three months we must do everything in our power to kill them.
- [to the Apollo 8 astronauts as they prepare to leave orbit]
- Michael Collins: You are 'go' for T.L.I., gentlemen. You are 'go' for the Moon.
- Frank Borman: Roger, Houston, Apollo 8 is 'go.'
- [after hearing that Frank Borman has become sick during Apollo 8's flight]
- Chris Kraft: Man, it's gonna smell bad up there!
- [after Apollo 12 lifts off]
- Astronaut Pete Conrad: Al Bean, you are going to the moon!
- Al Bean: Yeah! Ya'll can come along if you like!
- Capcom: and "Pravda" is calling Neil Armstrong the "czar" of the ship.
- Michael Collins: Well, right now the "czar" is brushing his teeth.
- [seconds before the Apollo 1 capsule caught fire]
- Gus Grissom: How are we going to get to the moon if we can't talk between two or three buildings?
- Dr. Lee Silver, Geologist: [during a last field geology trip before the Apollo 15 astronauts go to the moon] Now, we don't really know what we're going to find on the surface of the Moon...
- Astronaut James Irwin: [slightly drunk] Pete Conrad's car... keys?
- Astronaut David Scott: Ever since I was five years old, all I ever wanted to be was a pilot. And flying to the moon seemed to be the ultimate adventure. Nothing seemed more important. Do you understand?
- Dr. Lee Silver, Geologist: I think so.
- Astronaut David Scott: But finding this little fella - understanding what it represents, what it could tell us - will probably be the most satisfying thing I'll ever do.
- Dr. Lee Silver, Geologist: Well, I suspect there more to come from Dave Scott. But, in the meantime, "Brought back original crust from the Moon" should weigh pretty impressively on your resume, you know?