- Gene Kranz: Until a few weeks ago, I thought I knew what today was all about. I thought it was about being first. Turns out the stakes are much bigger than that. Today is about the future of our country. The future of the world. Because if we fail in our mission today, the United States will turn away from space, turn away from the future. Bogged down by war, poverty, hatred. And the future? Well, the future will belong to the Soviet Union. They will be the ones reaching into space for all of mankind. Now, I want you all to think about that for a moment. What that means for the future, to look like the "Marxist-Leninist way of life." But if we succeed, if we succeed in putting Apollo 11 on the moon, we're still in this thing. Still in the race. The future will be ours to fight for and to win. We put a man on the moon today, I guarantee we are not stopping there. We'll go to Mars. Saturn. The asteroids, the stars, deep space. The galaxy. And then, then we're getting answers to the big questions. Are we alone? Is there life out there? I am proud to be a member of this team, and I know that we will succeed today in our mission in putting two Americans on the moon. Because in this room, in this agency, in this country... failure is not an option.
- Karen Baldwin: I'm gonna learn to drink with the guys. Yeah, 'cause then I can find out how my husband really feels about his job. Or I'll just read about it in the newspapers with everyone else! Right?
- Deke Slayton: I was at the Cape with the rest of the Mercury astronauts when Jim Webb came down and told us the Russians put the first man in space. Webb wanted us to put a good face on for the press. So we did, but not for a while. First, we had to be pissed off, and we were. Gus could hardly speak. And Al Glad Al Shepard's not here today. Al was really pissed. Even Glenn. Yes, believe it or not, gentlemen, John Glenn actually said the word "fuck."
- Deke Slayton: You wanna cry about Apollo 15? Let me tell you something. There may not be an Apollo 12, much less 15.
- Edward Baldwin: What the hell are you talking about?
- Deke Slayton: The country's in shock, Eddie. Like Pearl Harbor shock. American people thought we had this thing in the bag, then the Russians come along and snatch it away at the last minute. Congress is talking about hearings, the president is looking for someone to blame, and you just served up the whole goddamn agency for a necktie party.
- Edward Baldwin: They really might cancel everything after 11?
- Deke Slayton: That's usually what happens when the race is over. Winner collects their prize, loser goes home.
- Gordo Stevens: You know, the whole world seems like it's tearing itself apart. War, death, hate. Chicago, last year. Man, Chicago last year. I never seen anything like that before. I love that city. I went to school there. I had a bunch of friends, you know? And to be back there on those streets where I went to school and see it all go down like that? You know, the cops just beating on those kids? You remember? You know? Just crushing their heads with their batons and just blood everywhere and they I just never seen that before. To see the hate in their eyes. You know, they wanted to kill those kids. They wanted to crush them. Right? Like they were just bugs. And I thought to myself, wou know, maybe, maybe a man being up on the moon might make people like that just lift their eyes for a moment and look past that hate and see something bigger. Bigger like hope.
- Jack Broadstreet: Okay, we have the translation now, and these are the words that Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first man to set foot on the moon, spoke just moments ago. "I take this step for my country, for my people, and for the Marxist-Leninist way of life. Knowing that today is but one small step on a journey that someday will take us all to the stars." I'm not sure what to say. Perhaps there are no words. So, for now, we'll let you soak in this historic moment and reflect on what it means for our country and for the world.
- Marge Slayton: Everyone believes it would be in the best interests of the agency and the country for Edward to make a public denial, stating emphatically that he was grossly misquoted by that reporter and strongly disassociating himself from those remarks. I also think, in that instance, Deke would be able to persuade Dr. von Braun to reinstate him on 15.
- Karen Baldwin: It's not that simple, Marge. Eddie would never get up and lie. He went to Annapolis. Right? Duty, honor, country. Those things matter to him.
- Marge Slayton: You don't have to go to Annapolis to have integrity, Karen.
- Karen Baldwin: No, I don't mean to imply that, but I know my husband.
- Marge Slayton: Duty, honor, country. I believe in those things. Sometimes you have to pick two.
- Edward Baldwin: Okay, I loved those guys, all right. Gus and Roger and Ed, I think about them every day. I mean, we all do. They were good men. That's the thing. Good men die in test planes all the time. But we don't change the whole culture of flight test 'cause good men die. We still get up there and push the envelope every single day, and maybe, maybe today's the day you don't come back. We all know that. It's always there. But we get up there anyway, and we keep taking the risks. But we stopped taking risks at NASA. And that's why we lost the moon.