No. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out quite that way. At that time, everybody was euphoric that we will have a new world order, you know, a world order that does not rely on nuclear weapons, nuclear deterrence. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way. ... We still have thousands of warheads in existence. We still have more than 20 — 30 countries relying on nuclear deterrence for their own survival.

We would constantly have to move because we couldn't quite afford the places that we were living. And sometimes we got evicted. And it was just very, very difficult as a child to try to understand that.

Very often I had to fight for the recognition of my ideas, particularly since, in those earlier days, I wasn’t in any prominent position where people would listen to me.

Since 1973, I had written a few screenplays on feminist subjects, but nobody wanted them.

My wife and I have always tried to explain to the girls — even when I had to go off on nine-month cruises in the Mediterranean or in the Pacific — why I was doing it, and what it was all about, that I felt that I could contribute to the military.

We worked with the engineers in the design and construction and testing phases in those various areas, then we would get back together at the end of the week and brief each other as to what had gone on. So even though we were there competing with each other for the first ride, we were still acting as a team, and helping each other in those days.

We always tried to share experiences with them. It was a little more difficult for them after the astronaut business, but they’ve responded well. All three are happily married, with their youngsters. And they’re not just happy homemakers. They’re all involved in little projects of their own, because they are challenged by wanting to help local charities, or wanting to start a business. I think they have turned out reasonably well.

No, I didn’t. Certainly when I was in the one-room country school you described, I guess my ambition at that point was to get through with a creditable performance. Really, of course, nobody thought about astronauts in those days, but I didn’t really even start thinking about airplanes very much when I was in grade school. So that interest sort of came later on.

That’s always been a good lesson to me that you’ve got to do the very best you can all the time. Now, you can’t always do that. But you can recognize when you’re goofing off, and get back on track.

In those days, talking in terms of a hero — it had to be Charles Lindbergh. I was very young when he flew across the Atlantic, and very impressed.