Astronauts are very professional and when they're preparing for launch, they prepare for it as the most serious endeavor of our lives.

I tell students that the opportunities I had were a result of having a good educational background. Education is what allows you to stand out.

Don't be afraid to reach for the stars

What everyone in the astronaut corps shares in common is not gender or ethnic background, but motivation, perseverance, and desire - the desire to participate in a voyage of discovery.

It's fun to work the robotic arm in part because it's really a team effort.

Education is what allows you to stand out

I feel very privileged. But what I really hope for young people is that they find a career they’re passionate about, something that’s challenging and worthwhile.

We are involved in technology development for, you know, missions that we hope to plan that would take us to an asteroid and eventually to Mars.

That's what we want to do here at Johnson Space Center. I think what we have always brought to NASA and brought to the country is trying to push the boundaries, trying to go to the next level.

I realized how important it was to know something about aviation, and it was something I was interested in, so I followed my brother's footsteps and obtained my pilot's license.

I'll tell you, being involved in human space flight, it is an emotional endeavor. I think it brings in the highest highs and the lowest lows.

I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.

Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.

The urge to discover, to invent, to know the unknown, seems so deeply human that we cannot imagine our history without it.

I realized why I need to start a new company. Not for the money. Not because I'm 'bored'. But because a company is a laboratory to try your ideas.

My greatest teacher was not a vocal coach, not the work of other singers, but the way Tommy Dorsey breathed and phrased on the trombone.

I always believed in my characters. I lived them

Many days you will want to give up because of rejections and failures. Passion to be an artist will help you prevail where others fail.

No battle was ever won by wholly sane men.

It is often the mistakes of others that benefit the rest of us and, sadly, not them ... For the antifragile, harm from errors should be less than the benefits.

I think who you are in school really sticks with you.