When you are thinking about going away for a long duration mission, it has to be part of your mindset that you're leaving your family, but it's for the right reasons, for good reasons, and hopefully helping humanity.

When you're faced with something for the first time, and if you're scared to death of that, you might want to reconcile your life beforehand.

I flew helicopters, which actually is the second best view of the earth. The first best view is, I think, a little bit higher.

I think windows are really important for the psychological health of crew members on long duration missions. It is nice to look outside, even if it is dark.

It's only now that I see the bigger picture: Our ways to attain spirituality may be different - through diverse religious, customs and traditions - but they're modeled on similar principles and ideologies. That's what ties us all together.

You don't look at the big problem all together, because I think it's a little intimidating. So you just take it one day at a time, meet the people who are going to meet with you, for you, and who you're going to work for, and really try to do the best job that you can. That's all teamwork, and that's what space travel is about.