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.
Peggy Whitson
I like to say I'm determined; some people would call it stubborn. It depends on your perspective.
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!
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.
My undergraduate, I double-majored in biology and chemistry. Biology was kind of my love.
It's like being a bird, maybe, the perspective of flying over the Earth.
I think the legacy of the space station will be that we can do something this technically complex in an international way.
You can solve problems, but the solutions don't always have to be elaborate or expensive.
I knew I wanted to be a part of NASA in any case, and so I chose my goals in education to be consistent with working at NASA even as, you know, a scientist.
I love Italian, Mexican, Thai. Something spicy.
I think the International Space Station is providing a key bridge from us living on Earth to going somewhere into deep space.
Everything every day here on Earth is based on gravity, and you don't realize it until you don't have it anymore.
I don't sing in the shower.
One of the astronauts I came to admire the most is John Young.
It's been fun doing interviews with the other astronauts, getting to hear: 'Oh, that's how he explains it' or 'That's how she thinks about it.' We work together, but we don't necessarily share all those thoughts or ideas.
Unfortunately, spaceflight takes a lot of time and money.
Life in zero gravity is hard to simulate. We practice on the ground what we call 'the day in the life' simulations, but it's just practicing some of the tests. It can't prepare you for the fact that all of your tools float if you don't pay attention to where they are! If you don't Velcro things down, they're gonna float away.
Anyone that's ever gone to space is always wanting to go back.
Work ethic is probably my No. 1 value and No. 1 attribute.
My work ethic is, I think, from my farm life.
Viewing the earth from above gives you this sense of how special the planet is that we live on.
You need to live a little bit outside your comfort zone because you can be even more than you dream of.
I would love to set foot on another planet - lunar or Mars or somewhere.
Find your passion. Because with that passion, you can do anything.
I think probably the discoveries made by Hubble Space Telescope have been very dramatic, very amazing.
I know the first female astronauts selected were definitely an inspiration to me, and so maybe I will be a role model.
The Earth is incredibly beautiful.
I do think space hotels are probably in our future.
After floating for nine and a half months in space, gravity is not your friend.
I think, just philosophically, we're made to explore.
Space flight's good for age; I have a lot less wrinkles up here. It's a good place to be as you get older.
I learned to not be afraid to fix things that break.
We are absolutely ready to go to Mars. It's going to be a fantastic journey getting there and very exciting times.
My desire to contribute to the spaceflight team as we move forward in our exploration of space has only increased over the years.
I started out as a farm girl in Iowa, and I dreamed of being an astronaut and an explorer. And I made 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.
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.
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 came from Iowa, south central Iowa. It was a very rural area. I saw a lot more hogs growing up than I saw people.
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.
Here, in low earth orbit, we're going around the earth, so we can actually use an Internet protocol phone because we have the appropriate satellites that can get those bandwidths.
I honestly do think that it is critical that we are continuously breaking records, because that represents us moving forward in exploration.
I have been blessed with some really special crewmates. Being able to be a really integral member of the team, no matter what role I was in, was truly special.
I am not sure what the future holds for me personally, but I envision myself continuing to work on spaceflight programs.
I was inspired by the men who walked on the moon. It really was my inspiration, I think, you know, as a kid of 9 years old - I know I'm dating myself, but - I thought, 'What a cool job!'
To be able to float and move around and, pretty much effortlessly, do whatever you want with your body in space is pretty amazing.
We want people to continue learning new things about what space does to the human body. It's important for us to understand that and make sure when we get ready to fly to Mars that we are ready for what we're going to be exposed to.
Breaking records has never been my goal. I think it's important that we're continually pushing our limits and showing that we can extend beyond what we have done before.
The advice I give young people is that you have to pursue something, and you have to have fun along the way.
Drive and desire was something I was raised with. It became a very important part of how I've become.
