We've been fairly conservative when it comes to height. I don't see that being something that's going to change anytime soon.

It's not like we're trying to figure out ways not to serve the client, and I think that's the piece that gets lost when everyone is asking why didn't someone do this or that. We all want the same thing. The question is, can we find it?

This is more complicated than it looks on the surface, ... We can't just say to an agency, 'Yes you're approved and then we're going to snatch a contract away from you,' without us reviewing how well they are operating.

With aerocapture, it's done all at once, ... You have a heat shield...you do the maneuver, and in 30 minutes you're in a circular orbit.

I am confident that we can get the materials, but packaging and deployment will be the biggest nut to crack.

It's definitely high-risk [now]. It's maybe 10 to 15 years out.

It looks like it has the right thermal properties, so it can go near the sun and not overheat.

He may have been an adjunct instructor, ... professor.

It's a matter of putting it all together and it all looks pretty doable. There is a benefit to human exploration for aerocapture, from an incremental technology point of view.

It's a blessing. It's like always when I was a kid, I would say, 'I want this, I want that' as far as gifts go, but this is the biggest gift I have ever had.

Now if you launch with conventional propulsion, most of the scientists would be retired or dead.

All of the thrusting is in the inner solar system, then it coasts.

(Brown) wasn't a professor here, he was only a student here.

I hear it's a snake pit down there.

Our goal here is the same.

I guess the argument could be made that it's a discretionary decision made by five elected officials.

Is this a coincidence, an example of amazing cluelessness, or something more deliberate?