Charles Duke Quotes

The only time I had what you would call life-threatening fear was when I was on the Moon. Towards the end of our stay, we got excited and we were going to do the high jump, and I jumped and fell over backwards. That was a scary time, because if the backpack got broken, I would have had it. But everything held together.

– Charles Duke

My walk on the moon lasted three days. My walk with God will last forever.

– Charles Duke

I think a Moon base is not necessary to get to Mars, but I think it will be helpful. It would give you a chance to develop and mature some systems; long duration, deep space stuff; and you’re close enough to get some help, via radio from Earth.

– Charles Duke

Buzz Aldrin doesn’t think we need to go back to the Moon – that we should go straight on to Mars. I’m more on the side that says we should go back to the Moon. I think there’s a lot we can utilise the Moon for scientifically.

– Charles Duke

You wouldn’t want to land on the Moon and launch to Mars. That would be very inefficient.

– Charles Duke

I think the future of lunar bases has to be somewhere around the South or North Pole. You have less variation in temperature and more daylight hours.

– Charles Duke

Of course, mankind would not have landed on the Moon in 1969, were it not for two things: conquered Nazi rocket technology and post-war anti-Communist paranoia in the United States.

– Charles Duke

It certainly is possible to construct a moon base in such a way that crews could stay for extended periods of time.

– Charles Duke

I always respected Neil Armstrong highly. He was probably the coolest under pressure of anyone I ever had the privilege of flying with. I never saw him flustered.

– Charles Duke

Two months after I got out of test pilot school, I saw an advert that said NASA was recruiting more astronauts. The best job you could have as a test pilot was being an astronaut, so I volunteered.

– Charles Duke

The Moon was the most spectacularly beautiful desert you could ever imagine. Unspoilt. Untouched. It had a vibrancy about it and the contrast between it and the black sky was so vivid, it just made this impression of excitement and wonder.

– Charles Duke