The Experience Of Being In Space Didn't

The View Of Earth Is Spectacular From Space. Most People Imagine That When Astronauts Look Out The Window Of The Shuttle They See The Whole Earth Like That Big Blue Marble That Was Made Famous By The Flights That Went To The Moon. But The Shuttle Is Much, Much Closer Than Those Astronauts Were. So We Don't See The Whole Planet, The Whole Ball At Once, We Just See Parts Of It.

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.

For Whatever Reason, I Didn't Succumb To The Stereotype That Science Wasn't For Girls. I Got Encouragement From My Parents. I Never Ran Into A Teacher Or A Counselor Who Told Me That Science Was For Boys. A Lot Of My Friends Did.

It's No Secret That I've Been Reluctant To Use My Name For Things.

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.