My husband and I don't worry about each other the way we might if we didn't have similar jobs. I sometimes get an email where he tells me he's heading off on a mission to do terrain avoidance 50 feet above the ground at 500 knots. And I just say, "Okay, have a good flight."

Most people here don't have a wide emotional range. It's just the type of people astronauts are, they're required to be level.

You're less apprehensive when you know what to expect. Also, the first flight is very important in this performance-driven culture I work in; it establishes your reputation. If you don't do well, it's probably your last flight.

The prerequisite that people have a scientific or engineering degree or a medical degree limits the number of female astronauts. Right now, still, we have about 20 per cent of people who have that prerequisite who are female. So hey, girls: Embrace the very fun career of science and technology. Look at computer science. That's what I did.

I am definitely a little more nervous for my colleagues when I'm working at mission control than I am myself, on the shuttle.

Definitely you don't become famous by doing something bad; that's a professional death sentence.

You're always under the microscope, and you don't know which mission you're going to get. It's a surprise.