Quotes from Wernher von Braun

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

All one can really leave one's children is what's inside their heads. Education, in other words, and not earthly possessions, is the ultimate legacy, the only thing that cannot be taken away.

My experiences with science led me to God. They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun?

Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently.

The rocket worked perfectly, except for landing on the wrong planet.

I believe in an immortal soul. Science has proved that nothing disintegrates into nothingness. Life and soul, therefore, cannot disintegrate into nothingness, and so are immortal.

To simply dismiss the concept of God as being unscientific is to violate the very objectivity of science itself.

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

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

If we continue at this leisurly pace, we will have to pass Russian customs when we land on the moon.

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

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

The greatest gain from space travel consists in the extension of our knowledge. In a hundred years this newly won knowledge will pay huge and unexpected dividends.

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

Don't tell me that man doesn't belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go - and he'll do plenty well when he gets there.

Everything in space obeys the laws of physics. If you know these laws, and obey them, space will treat you kindly. And don't tell me man doesn't belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go - and he'll do plenty well when he gets there.

The logistic requirements for a large, elaborate mission to Mars are no greater that those for a minor military operation extending over a limited theatre of war.

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

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

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

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

Man is not made for space. But with the help of biologists and medical doctors, he can be prepared and accommodated.

By the year 2000 we will undoubtedly have a sizable operation on the Moon, we will have achieved a manned Mars landing and it's entirely possible we will have flown with men to the outer planets.

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