Jim Graf Quotations

We're getting into the dangerous portion of the mission. Now we're starting to enter into the realm where we've lost two spacecraft in the last 15 years.

We're on the money right now. But we are getting into the dangerous portion of the mission. A lot can go wrong, and if we don't succeed, we will fly right by the planet.

Our spacecraft has finally become an orbiter. The celebration feels great, but it will be very brief because before we start our main science phase, we still have six months of challenging work to adjust the orbit to the right size and shape.

We have a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern at this particular point in time.

We have a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern. At the same time, I feel confident. We have a very good spacecraft that has been performing extraordinarily well. We have an excellent well-trained team that's ready to go forward.

We have been preparing for years for the critical events the spacecraft must execute on Friday.

There is risk every time we enter the atmosphere, and we are fortunate to have Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey with their daily global coverage helping us watch for changes that could increase the risk.

Each time you dip into the atmosphere, you have to be very attentive because if you dip in too far ... it can be detrimental to the spacecraft, ... We have an atmosphere we don't fully understand. ... There are a lot of people who lose a lot of sleep.

The team did a great job of planning and implementing the acquisition of these very difficult images.

Oh I am very relieved. It was picture perfect.

This is obviously the critical maneuver. We will not see the end of the burn.

They say you're born with it, the gift, ... I think that's the case with Nick. He just grew up wanting to be a player.

There is no time for the team as a whole to react ... so we have on board all the programs we need to carry out, and the spacecraft has to do it all on its own.

They're bringing their data back, we think, through a straw. We're going to start opening up the fire hose ... We're going to be awash in data that will allow us to better understand the planet as a whole.

It's the most technologically advanced satellite we've ever sent to another planet.

It was picture-perfect. We couldn't have scripted it any better.

It will rewrite the science textbooks on Mars.

The celebration feels great, but it will be very brief because before we start our main science phase, we still have six months of challenging work to adjust the orbit to the right size and shape.

For the last six minutes, we are essentially in white-knuckle time, wondering if we're going to actually complete the burn and go into orbit.