I did not come to NASA to make history.

We need to make science cool again.

The view of Earth is spectacular.

The rockets light! The shuttle leaps off the launch pad in a cloud of steam and a trail of fire.

NASA has to approve whatever we wear, so there are clothes to choose from, like space shorts - we wear those a lot - and NASA T-shirts.

Suppose you came across a woman lying on the street with an elephant sitting on her chest. You notice she is short of breath. Shortness of breath can be a symptom of heart problems. In her case, the much more likely cause is the elephant on her chest. For a long time, society put obstacles in the way of women who wanted to enter the sciences. That is the elephant. Until the playing field has veen leveled and lingering stereotypes are gone, you can't even ask the question.

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