So most astronauts are astronauts for a couple of years before they are assigned to a flight.

I suggest taking the high road and have a little sence of humour and let things roll off your back. I think that's very important.

Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.

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

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.

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.

So I saw many planets, and they looked just a little bit brighter than they do from Earth.