On the day a country decides not to invest a cent in innovation, discovery or exploration, that country decides to be a tributary to others.

The science behind Interstellar is interesting, because some of it is absolutely real astrophysics and orbital mechanics, some of it is theoretical physics, and some of it is completely Hollywood. When a science fiction movie is based on plausible science, it's really good.

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

On the day a country decides not to invest a cent in innovation, discovery or exploration, that country decides to be a tributary to others.

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

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

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.