Bill Nelson: “Secretary Gates, please provide plans, which Congress can consider, that would eliminate this offset over time.”

Our decision is that it is more profitable for us to go to the South Pole of the Moon, because we think that is where the water is.

All of us have a responsibility to protect our home planet. After all, it's the only one we have.

One of the reasons you and I were able to accomplish so much on this committee is both of us worked very hard to keep politics out of NASA and to focus on the core mission of exploration.

When we find those, by the way, not only looking for life, we start to understand their development, and we better understand who we are, why we are here, how we got here, and all of this evolution of the cosmos.