Well, my father was in the Army and we traveled quite a bit when I was growing up, and I thought that I would like to have a military career, although I was drawn more towards the Navy.

I like the opportunity to travel the world and work in close company with other people.

We have played a critical role in meeting the new safety standards. The Canadian space industry contributed new tools that make the inspection of the space shuttle possible.

The space industry is developing and delivering benefits that tie into our immediate needs and priorities here on Earth-for example, medical and materials research, and satellite communications.

In 1983, NASA invited Canada to fly three payload specialists, in part because we had contributed the robotic arm that is used on the shuttle.

I wanted to further my education, so I went on to get a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and came back and served about ten years in the Canadian Navy as what we call a combat systems engineer.

Canada has made a strong commitment as a partner in the International Space Station and, like the other partners, wishes to see the assembly of this unique orbiting laboratory continue.

I went to military college in Canada and graduated as an officer in the Navy but also as an engineer.

Canada and space are a natural fit.

New standards for safety are now in place and Canada has helped provide tools and techniques that were needed. Technologies like these are innovative and represent great achievements for us.

It is a challenge to have your launch date slip continuously.

what terrifies me most is how wefoam at the mouth with envywhen others succeedbut sigh in reliefwhen they are failingour struggle tocelebrate each other iswhat's proven most difficultin being human

Unless your message is that you have no message, you need a message.

You should be aware of fake friends because it is the hardest to be aware of.

It is better to fail at your own life than to succeed at someone else's.

Authenticity is essential to the soul!

Everything is more complicated than it looks to most people.

And as far as I can see the world is too old for us to talk about it with our new words.

There's one advantage in having been around as long as I have. Everybody in the Senate knows me, and - I'm going to say something presumptuous, to repeat myself - I think most respect me.

The endurance athlete is the ultimate realist.

There is no perfecter endowment in man than political virtue.