I find myself looking around for other new, interesting opportunities to dive into.

When the space shuttle's engines cut off, and you're finally in space, in orbit, weightless... I remember unstrapping from my seat, floating over to the window, and that's when I got my first view of Earth. Just a spectacular view, and a chance to see our planet as a planet.

For quite some time, women at NASA only had scientific backgrounds.

It's too bad our society isn't further along.

So most astronauts getting ready to lift off are excited and very anxious and worried about that explosion - because if something goes wrong in the first seconds of launch, there's not very much you can do.

But even in elementary school and junior high, I was very interested in space and in the space program.

I have a lot of common sense. I know what needs to be done and how to approach it. I have an ability to work with people on large enterprises.