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

NASA has to approve whatever we wear, so there are clothes to choose from, like space shorts - we wear those a lot - and NASA T-shirts.

I do a lot of running and hiking, and I also collect stamps - space stamps and Olympics stamps.

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

I think it's important for little girls growing up, and young women, to have one in every walk of life. So from that point of view, I'm proud to be a role model!

So I decided on science when I was in college.

I felt very honored, and I knew that people would be watching very closely, and I felt it was very, very important that I do a good job.