“It's a significant issue. It's an issue that would prohibit a manned mission to Mars.”
Scott Aker
“At the beginning, some people thought we were a 'me too' mission: Send a lander to Mars and take a picture.”
Colin Pillinger
“This is going to be the first mission to get down and dirty on the surface of the Mars. With all due respect to the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers?we?re going to get muddy. They got dusty.”
Peter Doukas
“This brings us well into Mars' upper atmosphere for the drag pass and will enable the mission to start reducing the orbit to its final science altitude.”
Dan Johnston
“We're extremely proud and excited to be partnered with NASA on this mission to Mars, adding to the fleet of spacecraft that are revealing the mysteries of our planetary neighbor. MRO has been performing extremely well over the past seven months and during this cruise stage and the team has been busy monitoring and calibrating many of the spacecraft systems and instruments as we prepare MRO for orbital insertion and its ultimate mission. The entire NASA, JPL and Lockheed Martin team is ready to perform this critical maneuver for MRO and we are looking forward to continuing this exciting voyage of space exploration and discovery.”
Jim Crocker
“I would just cancel the mission to Mars, ... I don't think we should pay a trillion dollars to go to Mars, as the president is proposing.”
Peter DeFazio
“Mars is essentially in the same orbit. Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If there is oxygen, then we can breathe.”
Dan Quayle
