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

It's easy to sleep floating around - it's very comfortable. But you have to be careful that you don't float into somebody or something!

Three Secrets to Success: Be willing to learn new things. Be able to assimilate new information quickly. Be able to get along with and work with other people.

The experience of being in space didn't change my perspective of myself or of the planet or of life. I had no spiritual experience.

If they asked me if I wanted to go into space tomorrow, I'd do it in a heartbeat. On the other hand, if they asked me if I wanted to go into training for three years and then go into space again, I'd probably say no.

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

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.