It's too bad our society isn't further along.

It's well known that many girls have a tendency to dumb down when they're in middle school.

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

Eventually private enterprise will be able to send people into orbit, but I suspect initially it's going to have to be with NASA's help. Whether it's going to be a consortium or one entity remains to be seen. I could be wrong. I could be one of the old fogies! Rocket science is tough, and rockets have a way of failing. It happens. A company has to be willing to bear the risk of its rocket failing. It's a very large capital investment.

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

When you can feel that close to something you're used to seeing from this great distance, well, it changes a person.

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