12 May 2013 Last updated at 20:37 ET By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
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Commander Chris Hadfield has opened the wonders of space travel to a new generation (footage courtesy of Chris Hadfield, Nasa and CSA)
Space station commander Chris Hadfield has told BBC News that those calling for a quick return of manned missions to the Moon are seeking "titillation".
His comments were in response to suggestions that the International Space Station (ISS) served little purpose.
Commander Hadfield has been a Twitter sensation with his feed of comments, photos and videos showing what life is like in space.
He is due to return to Earth on Tuesday.
"We will go to the Moon and we will go to Mars; we will go and see what asteroids and comets are made of," he told BBC News.
We will go to the Moon and we will go to Mars. But we're not going to do it tomorrow and we're not going to do it because it titillates the nerve endings
"But we're not going to do it tomorrow and we're not going to do it because it titillates the nerve endings. We're going to do it because it's a natural human progression."
More:
Nasa's job is not to 'titillate'
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