Later, I realized that the mission had to end in a let-down because the real barrier wasn't in the sky but in our knowledge and experience of supersonic flight."

Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own.

You don't concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done.

Never wait for trouble.

"You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up."