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.

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.

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

Some people will always be volunteers to explore, and it is, in my mind, a privilege.

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.

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

I'm 45, and I'm still at school, essentially. Even after being assigned to the mission, I had to write a number of exams, with people commenting on my performance.