The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut.

No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.

Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same - it's not even close to the same.

I felt very honored, and I knew that people would be watching very closely, and I felt it was very, very important that I do a good job.

It's easy to sleep floating around - it's very comfortable. But you have to be careful that you don't float into somebody or something!

Well, we spend an awful lot of our time working and doing experiments. It's very busy up on the shuttle.

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