When you talk to astronauts, the most profound thing when you finally go into space is the view - looking back at the planet - so I absolutely know for sure that that's going to change my perspective on our planet, and it's going to change my perspective on life, I think.

For me, the passion of being an astronaut was ignited at an early age. I have this recollection of looking at a picture of the Apollo program - Neil Armstrong standing on the Moon - then looking at the night sky and realizing that, right where I was looking, people stood and looked back at the Earth. Even as a fairly young child, that was not lost on me, and it inspired me to pursue my dream. I didn't know if I would ever become an astronaut, of course, and the odds are not in your favour, but I just kept it in the back of my mind and tried to keep those options open.

NEEMO missions are a challenging and exciting aspect of astronaut training. The research we conduct during those missions allows us to test new technologies and exploration concepts in conditions similar to the ones we'll experience in space. They are a great opportunity to help me expand my knowledge and develop new tools for future space exploration.

Actually, that's one of the things I like most about my job: There isn't much of a day-to-day. For example, last week, I was flying with the RCAF, flying CF-18s. Today, I was going through my annual physical. I take language classes, I learn robotics and spacewalking, so every week is different.

I think my career will end too early for me to go to Mars, though I might be involved in preparing the next generation to go. I'd love to explore Mars, but, ultimately, it's kind of a crappy planet. The thing is, Mars One people would never go outside without a spacesuit ever again. You're going to live in a tin can. Space stations are noisy; it's like living inside a computer with the fan on all the time. You're never going to smell grass or trees. It's just never going to be anything like Earth. You're never going to swim. You're giving up so much.

I'd like to reiterate that the opportunities in space are going to be vastly different than they've been before, so, for young Canadians preparing for their futures, it's important to understand that there are going to be many opportunities to work in either new space industries that are being developed or to actually go to space, to be one of the people to join our team of explorers who are going to leave lower-Earth orbit. That, ultimately, is amazing, the opportunities we'll have.

Having serious consequences to your decision-making process is something you have to be very comfortable with. It's something you learn and you practise over time, so I encourage people to find some way to challenge themselves. The other thing I share with people, which I've learned over time, is self-confidence. You have to get very comfortable with saying, "Well, every day, I'm just going to give my best. I have skill sets I've learned, I'm going to employ them, and my best is going to be good enough".