I’m still ready to go to the moon, if they’ll take me.

Cronkite’s quip plays on his public identity as America’s most recognizable narrator of the Space Age—especially the Apollo missions—while expressing an undimmed, almost boyish enthusiasm for exploration. The conditional “if they’ll take me” acknowledges the practical barriers (age, selection, training) that make such a trip unlikely, turning the line into self-deprecating humor rather than bravado. At the same time, it signals a broader cultural attitude: that the moon landings were not merely technical achievements but invitations to imagine ordinary citizens participating in humanity’s next frontier. The remark functions as both personal aspiration and emblem of enduring faith in scientific progress.