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

Because I was a tennis player, Billie Jean King was a hero of mine.

Well, we spend an awful lot of our time working and doing experiments. It's very busy up on the shuttle.

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.

We can see cities during the day and at night, and we can watch rivers dump sediment into the ocean, and see hurricanes form.

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

I have been a bit of a risk-taker all my life.