Quotes from Wernher von Braun

It will free man from the remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet.

For my confirmation, I didn't get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift.

Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.

There is just one thing I can promise you about the outer-space program: your dollar will go further.

One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions.

Basic research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I am doing.

The best computer is a man, and it's the only one that can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.

I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution.

I'm convinced that before the year 2000 is over, the first child will have been born on the moon.

Our sun is one of a 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living thing in that enormous immensity.

We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.

It [the rocket] will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open to him the gates of heaven.

And don't tell me that man doesn't belong out there [space]. Man belongs wherever he wants to go — and he'll do plenty well when he gets there.

Crash programs fail because they are based on the theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby a month.

I have learned to use the world 'impossible' with the greatest caution.

In future utopia will need to hurry to keep up with reality.

You can't have a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant

Conquering the universe one has to solve two problems: gravity and red tape. We could have mastered gravity.

In Zukunft wird sich die Utopie beeilen müssen, wenn sie die Realität einholen will.

Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.

It was very successful, but it fell on the wrong planet.

What we will have attained when Neil Armstrong steps down upon the moon is a completely new step in the evolution of man.

For my confirmation, I didn't get a watch and my first pair of long pants, like most Lutheran boys. I got a telescope. My mother thought it would make the best gift.

The same forces of nature which enable us to fly to the stars, enable us also to destroy our star.