Then during the mission itself, I used the space shuttle's robot arm to release a satellite into orbit.

The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut.

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.

I haven't written my memoirs or let the television movie be made about my life.

Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity. Science is a process of investigating. It's posing questions and coming up with a method. It's delving in.

Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.

If it wasn't for the women's movement, I wouldn't be where I am today.