“Was it a great experience? Of course it was. You fly in Earth orbit, you fly over a river or lake, a city, a coastline, maybe even you get a glimpse of your own hometown, flying at 18,000 miles, traverse the Earth once every 90 minutes, flies through a magnificently beautiful sunrise and sunset, every revolution, what, 16 of them every 24 hours. But when you go to the Moon you accelerate to 24, 25,000 miles an hour, and you get to look back. That’s when you begin to see the world in a true perspective for the first time.”

—Gene Cernan (1934-2017)