It takes a few years to prepare for a space mission.

So I saw many planets, and they looked just a little bit brighter than they do from Earth.

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.

If it wasn't for the women's movement, I wouldn't be where I am today.

The view of earth is absolutely spectacular, and the feeling of looking back and seeing your planet as a planet is just an amazing feeling. It's a totally different perspective, and it makes you appreciate, actually, how fragile our existence is.

On both of my flights, everything went very well.

We need to make science cool again.