I did not come to NASA to make history.

All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.

Once you are assigned to a flight, the whole crew is assigned at the same time, and then that crew trains together for a whole year to prepare for that flight.

Ever been to Disneyland? That was definitely an E ticket!

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

Studying whether there's life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there's something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. That's something that is almost part of being human, and I'm certain that will continue.

For whatever reason, I didn't succumb to the stereotype that science wasn't for girls. I got encouragement from my parents. I never ran into a teacher or a counselor who told me that science was for boys. A lot of my friends did.