I know the first female astronauts selected were definitely an inspiration to me, and so maybe I will be a role model.
In space for a short time, I think most people could survive that. If you're sending an average person who's healthy for a short period of time, I think that's quite doable.
My desire to contribute to the spaceflight team as we move forward in our exploration of space has only increased over the years.
Walking in space is absolutely the most exhilarating part of a mission. The view is just incredible.
The advice I give young people is that you have to pursue something, and you have to have fun along the way.
I think probably the discoveries made by Hubble Space Telescope have been very dramatic, very amazing.
I think the International Space Station is providing a key bridge from us living on Earth to going somewhere into deep space.
I honestly do think that it is critical that we are continuously breaking records, because that represents us moving forward in exploration.
I think the biggest advice that I could give people is to actually try and live beyond your dreams by pushing yourself, challenging yourself to do things a little bit outside of your comfort zone.
Even if my job for the day is cleaning the vents or fixing the toilet, it still feels good to be a part of the space program and advancing exploration.
Space flight's good for age; I have a lot less wrinkles up here. It's a good place to be as you get older.
On my first flight, I don't know if maybe it's a function of time, or if I was less stressed on my second flight, but just being able to tell what part of the planet we were flying over by the reflected light coming through the window - that was pretty special.
My parents are the hardest-working people I ever knew: they always worked every day, all day; they had to come up with the solutions to make things work. And I think that work ethic, maybe stubbornness, single-mindedness, definitely played a role for me. I'm definitely thankful for my roots.
Drive and desire was something I was raised with. It became a very important part of how I've become.
We want people to continue learning new things about what space does to the human body. It's important for us to understand that and make sure when we get ready to fly to Mars that we are ready for what we're going to be exposed to.
Life in zero gravity is hard to simulate. We practice on the ground what we call 'the day in the life' simulations, but it's just practicing some of the tests. It can't prepare you for the fact that all of your tools float if you don't pay attention to where they are! If you don't Velcro things down, they're gonna float away.