I can't remember a single time [my parents] ever told me not to do something I wanted to do.

But when I wasn't working, I was usually at a window looking down at Earth.

The pressure suit helps if something goes wrong during launch or re-entry - astronauts have a way to parachute off the shuttle. The suits protect you from loss of pressure in case of emergency.

All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.

I don't have any nicknames.

I didn't really decide that I wanted to be an astronaut for sure until the end of college.

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