 Whether you are an astronomer or a life scientist, geophysicist, or a pilot, you've got to be there because you believe you are good in your field, and you can contribute, not because you are going to get a lot of fame or whatever when you get back. |
| The pilot looked at his cues of attitude and speed and orientation and so on and responded as he would from the same cues in an airplane, but there was no way it flew the same. The simulators had showed us that. |
| We also knew it would be difficult, because of the financial condition of the family, for me to go to college. |
| You've done it in the simulator so many times, you don't have a real sense of being excited when the flight is going on. You're excited before, but as soon as the liftoff occurs, you are busy doing what you have to do. |
| Obviously I was challenged by becoming a Naval aviator, by landing aboard aircraft carriers and so on. |
| So everything turned out fine, and we were given the opportunity to go to Washington and be briefed on the project of man in space, and given the opportunity to choose whether we wanted to get involved or not. |
| I'd like to say I was smart enough to finish six grades in five years, but I think perhaps the teacher was just glad to get rid of me. |
| It's been a long way, but we're here. |
| I think all of us certainly believed the statistics which said that probably 88% chance of mission success and maybe 96% chance of survival. And we were willing to take those odds. |
