I Didn't Really Decide That I Wanted

Eventually Private Enterprise Will Be Able To Send People Into Orbit, But I Suspect Initially It's Going To Have To Be With Nasa's Help. Whether It's Going To Be A Consortium Or One Entity Remains To Be Seen. I Could Be Wrong. I Could Be One Of The Old Fogies! Rocket Science Is Tough, And Rockets Have A Way Of Failing. It Happens. A Company Has To Be Willing To Bear The Risk Of Its Rocket Failing. It's A Very Large Capital Investment.

I Never Went Into Physics Or The Astronaut Corps To Become A Role Model. But After My First Flight, It Became Clear To Me That I Was One. And I Began To Understand The Importance Of That To People. Young Girls Need To See Role Models In Whatever Careers They May Choose, Just So They Can Picture Themselves Doing Those Jobs Someday. You Can't Be What You Can't See.

I Have Been A Bit Of A Risk-taker All My Life.

I Didn't Really Decide That I Wanted To Be An Astronaut For Sure Until The End Of College.

I Suggest Taking The High Road And Have A Little Sence Of Humour And Let Things Roll Off Your Back. I Think That's Very Important.