Buy why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may as well ask why climb the highest mountain? Across the sea of space, the stars are other suns.

Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10. For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us. The path of a cosmonaut is not an easy, triumphant march to glory. You have to get to know the meaning not just of joy but also of grief, before being allowed in the spacecraft cabin.