I would certainly encourage young people to pursue their dreams. It isn't always an easy path, but it's worth going after. And I figure if a farmer's daughter from Iowa can become an astronaut, you can be just about anything you want to be.
I like to say I'm determined; some people would call it stubborn. It depends on your perspective.
I started out as a farm girl in Iowa, and I dreamed of being an astronaut and an explorer. And I made it.
One of the most beautiful sights is when the rim of the Earth is bright on one side, and you see this defined line of the atmosphere. You see how close and thin it is. We've got to be careful. We've got to take care of this planet.
I think the legacy of the space station will be that we can do something this technically complex in an international way.
It's like being a bird, maybe, the perspective of flying over the Earth.
In terms of goals for NASA before I die, we need to be living on Mars. And I might not live that long, so they better get on with it!
I think the biggest advice that I could give people is to actually try and live beyond your dreams by pushing yourself, challenging yourself to do things a little bit outside of your comfort zone.
I think, just philosophically, we're made to explore.
You can solve problems, but the solutions don't always have to be elaborate or expensive.
I know the first female astronauts selected were definitely an inspiration to me, and so maybe I will be a role model.
I came from Iowa, south central Iowa. It was a very rural area. I saw a lot more hogs growing up than I saw people.
My desire to contribute to the spaceflight team as we move forward in our exploration of space has only increased over the years.
Even if my job for the day is cleaning the vents or fixing the toilet, it still feels good to be a part of the space program and advancing exploration.
Gravity always sucks. It really, really does. It's a big challenge just re-adapting to feeling heavy again, you know? Even my arm feels heavy. My legs feel heavy.
I do think space hotels are probably in our future.
My parents are the hardest-working people I ever knew: they always worked every day, all day; they had to come up with the solutions to make things work. And I think that work ethic, maybe stubbornness, single-mindedness, definitely played a role for me. I'm definitely thankful for my roots.
I would love to set foot on another planet - lunar or Mars or somewhere.
I think the International Space Station is providing a key bridge from us living on Earth to going somewhere into deep space.
My undergraduate, I double-majored in biology and chemistry. Biology was kind of my love.
