On a standard space shuttle crew, two of the astronauts have a test pilot background - the commander and the pilot.

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

If we want scientists and engineers in the future, we should be cultivating the girls as much as the boys.

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.

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

I don't have any nicknames.

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