You can picture pretty easily if there were a paying passenger aboard a rocket that failed, like Challenger failed. Certainly it would be a tragedy, and a tragedy for the company. They would have a hard time recovering from it.

It takes a couple of years just to get the background and knowledge that you need before you can go into detailed training for your mission.

Then during the mission itself, I used the space shuttle's robot arm to release a satellite into orbit.

Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.

I have a lot of common sense. I know what needs to be done and how to approach it. I have an ability to work with people on large enterprises.

The space shuttle is a better and safer rocket than it was before the Challenger accident.

I slept just floating in the middle of the flight deck, the upper deck of the space shuttle.