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I would suspect strongly that over a period of time, if we put our mind to going to Mars, it will be a consortium of several countries.

NASA needs to focus on the things that are really important and that we do not know how to do. The agency is a pioneering force, and that is where its competitive advantage lies.

Perhaps the best motivation for going to Mars is political. It is obvious that no single nation currently has either the will or the resources to do it alone, but a consortium of nations and space agencies could achieve it within 20 years.

One of the big things about space exploration is that it is as expensive as it is complicated, and you need all the countries of the world to help if you want to accomplish big goals.

We are involved in technology development for, you know, missions that we hope to plan that would take us to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.

NASA is an engine of innovation and inspiration as well as the world's premier space exploration agency, and we are well served by politicians working to keep it that way, instead of turning it into a mere jobs program, or worse, cutting its budget.

The 18,000 NASA employees are full of galactic talents and abilities and are ready to accomplish whatever they're directed to do.

We need a NASA-like organization for ocean exploration, because we need to be exploring and protecting our life support systems here on Earth.

The space program needs a goal, and the goal should be humans to Mars.

That's what we want to do here at Johnson Space Center. I think what we have always brought to NASA and brought to the country is trying to push the boundaries, trying to go to the next level.