It reassures me that when we get together as a community, when we put our effort together and our will to help others, we can achieve anything, and that is a lesson for us all.
Everything evolves, and I evolve, too.
We should continue all the time to look out for those who have less, to stand for those who can't, to reach out across differences, to use our land intelligently, to open our borders and welcome those who seek harbour, and never, ever cease to be curious, ask questions, and to explore and search.
I am classically trained in piano, flute, and voice.
I'm a true believer in the strength of teamwork, in the power of dreams.
It is clear that I am a person who believes fundamentally in facts, evidence, data, and science, which supports decision-making and allows us to function as a society based on knowledge.
What's really important is to recognize when people do great things or when people pursue an initiative or show enormous generosity or heart or bravery.
I'm still convinced that - I'm sorry to say - the body of evidence shows that the planet is warming up. And it's warming up at a certain rate that has never been seen before in the history of the planet. We have to take that seriously.
I actually don't remember Apollo 11 exactly because, at the time, I was five years old. The landing happened at night, and the walk on the moon happened at night eastern time, and I asked my parents; my mom said I was probably asleep, and so I just don't have any recollection. I do have recollection of the later missions to the moon.
My dad, who likes genealogy, knows who was the first guy that came from France in 1655, and the guy settled in Montreal, and Montreal is an island where the city is in Quebec.
When I became an astronaut, I was an engineer.
I think that we are blessed to live here in Canada.
I'm 9, 10, and I'm watching the Apollo astronauts go to the moon. We're sitting on the floor of a school, and they have this... huge TV, and I'm looking at that, and I'm thinking 'Me, I would like to do that.' But it didn't dawn on me then that they were American; I was Canadian. They were men; I was a girl. They were test pilots, military folks.
I don't pretend to be perfect.
Every event, whether they're positive or negative, shapes us. And sometimes, events happen that we couldn't even fathom.
I was a flight engineer on my second flight, which is the most senior position a non-American can have aboard the shuttle. We're the cockpit crew. We fly the vehicle up to space, dock the vehicle to the space station, undock it at the end of the mission, and return it to the ground.
Most astronauts are very down-to-earth people. Many of us, three-quarters, have an engineering degree, and we have a very Cartesian, rational approach to things.
When I saw the Earth from above, personally, as a spacecraft operator, it certainly reinforced and drove home the fact that there's one place where we can live right now.
I always call myself a space construction worker.
If you're in space on the way to Mars, and a conflict develops... you can't turn around and go back, because Earth is already gone on its orbit.
