We were on the dark side of the Earth when we started to see outside the window this soft pink glow, which is a lot of little angry ions out there going very fast. We were hitting them very fast. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
If you want to go into space first time on a new vehicle that's never been flown, you want to go with a pro. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
I was selected to be an astronaut on a military program called the Manned Orbiting Laboratory back in '67. That program got cancelled in… — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
The nature of the shuttle was, we couldn't put a crew escape system in it. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
The space shuttle has been a fantastic vehicle. It is unlike any other thing that we've ever built. Its capabilities have carried several hundred… — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
When you work really hard for something for a long time it's almost impossible to believe that it's coming true. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
Living inside the shuttle was a little like camping out. We ended up sleeping in our seats. You had to pay attention to housekeeping,… — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
Having the opportunity to fly the first flight of something like a space shuttle was the ultimate test flight. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
This vehicle is performing like a champ. I've got a super spaceship under me. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
We were only on orbit a little over two days, so we had no adverse effects from being weightless. — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
The real pleasure was having the chance to enjoy being weightless, and the other was to spend some time looking out at this beautiful… — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
I thought it was going to take a lot more countdowns on the pad. We actually did scrub once, but I figured we'd scrub… — Robert Crippen Copy Share Image
