I Had Both Male And Female Heroes.

I Felt Very Honored, And I Knew That People Would Be Watching Very Closely, And I Felt It Was Very, Very Important That I Do A Good Job.

I Can't Remember A Single Time [my Parents] Ever Told Me Not To Do Something I Wanted To Do.

There's A Huge Amount Of Pressure On Every Astronaut, Because When You Get Right Down To It, The Experiments That Are Conducted On A Space Flight, Or The Satellites That Are Carried Up, The Work That's To Be Done, Is Important And Expensive Work, And You Are Up There For A Week Or Two On A Space Shuttle Flight. The Country Has Invested A Lot Of Money In You And Your Training, And The Space Shuttle And Everything That's In It, And You Have To Do Things Correctly. You Can't Make A Mistake During That Week Or Two That You're In Space.

The Experience Of Being In Space Didn't Change My Perspective Of Myself Or Of The Planet Or Of Life. I Had No Spiritual Experience.

So I Decided On Science When I Was In College.