Some astronauts sleep in sort of beds - compartments that you can open up and crawl into and then close up, almost like a little bedroom.

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.

The stars don't look bigger, but they do look brighter.

I did not come to NASA to make history.

My parents must have done a great job. Anytime I wanted to pursue something that they weren't familiar with, that was not part of their lifestyle, they let me go ahead and do it.

I've discovered that half the people would love to go into space and there's no need to explain it to them. The other half can't understand and I couldn't explain it to them. If someone doesn't know why, I can't explain it.

When you're getting ready to launch into space, you're sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen.