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

I was always very interested in science, and I knew that for me, science was a better long-term career than tennis.

The space shuttle is a better and safer rocket than it was before the Challenger accident.

For a long time, society put obstacles in the way of women who wanted to enter the sciences.

The astronauts who came in with me in my astronaut class - my class had 29 men and 6 women - those men were all very used to working with women.

Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same - it's not even close to the same.

It's well known that many girls have a tendency to dumb down when they're in middle school.