One Thing I Probably Share With Everyone

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.

I Never Went Into Physics Or The Astronaut Corps To Become A Role Model. But After My First Flight, It Became Clear To Me That I Was One. And I Began To Understand The Importance Of That To People. Young Girls Need To See Role Models In Whatever Careers They May Choose, Just So They Can Picture Themselves Doing Those Jobs Someday. You Can't Be What You Can't See.

The Food Isn't Too Bad. It's Very Different From The Food That The Astronauts Ate In The Very Early Days Of The Space Program.

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.

The Rockets Light! The Shuttle Leaps Off The Launch Pad In A Cloud Of Steam And A Trail Of Fire.