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" So many people I talk to who work in technology, you ask them, 'What got you interested in science?' and those from my generation say, 'The Apollo landings.' "
Ellen Stofan
Science
You
Work
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" We actually look to the scientific community to kind of come back to NASA and tell us what the priorities should be. And then at NASA, we try to look within our budget and say, 'What can we accommodate, and what are the most important things for the nation?' "
Ellen Stofan
Priorities
Look
Important
" We're going to understand that there is life on other bodies in the solar system. "
Ellen Stofan
Going
Solar
System
" I grew up in this business... A lot of my life has been centered around this question about how NASA is helping us to understand our own home planet... and to understand our place in the universe. "
Ellen Stofan
Place
My Life
Life
" I'm so biased to this issue of the origins of life and the limits of life. "
Ellen Stofan
Origins
Biased
Issue
" I always like to say just think you were a doctor with only one patient. You might understand how that person gets sick, how they get better, but you understand nothing about the progression of disease or how humans in general get ill. Now take an Earth scientist: you only have one planet to study. "
Ellen Stofan
Think
Earth
Doctor
" Every time I give a talk, I ask the audience - especially if it's kids - how many want to go to Mars. At least half raise their hands. I don't think there's going to be any shortage of volunteers. "
Ellen Stofan
Time
Talk
Think
" We're not going to get humans to Mars until at least the mid-2030s, and the world is going to change by then. "
Ellen Stofan
Change
World
Then
" Mars was this water-based planet, and we know there was stable water on the surface for a long time, which is critical for life having a chance to develop. "
Ellen Stofan
Life
Know
Chance
" 'The Martian' may be fiction, but at NASA, we are working to make it a reality. "
Ellen Stofan
NASA
May
Fiction
" We like to talk about pioneering Mars rather than just exploring Mars, because once we get to Mars, we will set up some sort of permanent presence. "
Ellen Stofan
Will
Exploring
Mars
" To avoid congestion, I get up at 5:10, grab a slice of raisin toast, and leave the house at 6 A.M. My husband, Tim Dunn, who works for an environmental agency, is still asleep when I slip out, and I find that rather annoying. "
Ellen Stofan
House
Husband
Up
" It's part of the human character to want to know what's over the next hill, to want to know what's beyond. "
Ellen Stofan
Want
Hill
Human
" When you look at Venus and the Earth, they formed at about the same place in the solar system. They're made of about the same materials; they're about the same size. "
Ellen Stofan
Solar
Earth
Look
" 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. "
Ellen Stofan
You
World
Space
" Communication is an issue where we can improve, and if I can do anything to help, I am happy to. "
Ellen Stofan
Communication
I Can
I Am
" If you think of the Apollo capsule coming into Earth with a parachute, the Mars atmosphere is just so thin, you've got to find some way of slowing yourself down really rapidly. "
Ellen Stofan
Down
Yourself
You
" People see space as a place where you go and cooperate. "
Ellen Stofan
Space
People
Go
" Humans can actually read a landscape, go through a lot of rocks - crack them open, throw them, pick up the next one. Rovers are great - they do amazing science - but it is a lot more tedious process; they go much less far than a human can cover in a day. "
Ellen Stofan
Day
Amazing
Great
" What we expect to find, certainly in our own solar system, are probably simple single or multiple-cell forms of life. To get to intelligent life takes stability of conditions over huge, long periods of time. "
Ellen Stofan
Simple
Time
Long
" We want to make sure we get living astronauts to the surface of Mars. "
Ellen Stofan
Want
Mars
Living
" With the mission to Mars, the whole world wants to get involved. So we actually have 13 different space agencies from around the world working on the global exploration road map. "
Ellen Stofan
Mission
Exploration
Road
" Mars missions will require up to three years in reduced gravity, so we need to make sure astronauts can not only survive but thrive as they move outward to explore this new world. "
Ellen Stofan
World
Need
Mars
" You see countries like India really investing in their space program because they see it as inspirational and good for their economy. "
Ellen Stofan
Space
Inspirational
India
" There's a huge question of whether you really need water for life. "
Ellen Stofan
Water
You
Really
" I wish someone would redo 'Dune.' "
Ellen Stofan
Would
Dune
Someone
" If I had an unlimited budget, I would really be probing that question of life because we know what the questions are, and we know what the destinations are. "
Ellen Stofan
Question
Life
Know
" I'm actually a NASA brat. My father was a rocket scientist. He started working at NASA before it was NASA in 1959. "
Ellen Stofan
Rocket
Started
Working
" Instead of being able to look at smaller interesting research projects, I am trying to see the links between all the research NASA does. For me, that's extremely fun because I get to go play and learn about areas of science that I know nothing about. "
Ellen Stofan
Know
I Am
Fun
" When we go to explore, we do it as a globe. "
Ellen Stofan
Explore
Globe
Go
" As we visit Mars multiple times, we will build up infrastructure on the surface to expand the capabilities and reach of humans on Mars. "
Ellen Stofan
Infrastructure
Build
Mars