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

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

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.

A spirit, too, needs fuel. It can run dry.

We have vexed and bothered every plant and every animal on every continent.

The aim of the poet, or other artist, is first to make something; and it's impossible to make something out of words and not communicate

She may have looked normal on the outside, but once you'd seen her handwriting you knew she was deliciously complicated inside.

Dialing down is not an option for me.

Ghosts and vampires are never only about ghosts and vampires.

Most people don't do something seminal. I've done it twice: with my tent and my bed. Picasso did it with Cubism.

Prose writers are interested mostly in life and commas.

I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment.

The question which we must ask ourselves is not whether we like or do not like what is going on, but what we are going to do about it.