Peggy Whitson

Life in zero gravity is hard to simulate. We practice on the ground what we call 'the day in the life' simulations, but it's just practicing some of the tests. It can't prepare you for the fact that all of your tools float if you don't pay attention to where they are! If you don't Velcro things down, they're gonna float away.

In terms of goals for NASA before I die, we need to be living on Mars. And I might not live that long, so they better get on with it!

I think the biggest advice that I could give people is to actually try and live beyond your dreams by pushing yourself, challenging yourself to do things a little bit outside of your comfort zone.

You need to live a little bit outside your comfort zone because you can be even more than you dream of.

I would certainly encourage young people to pursue their dreams. It isn't always an easy path, but it's worth going after. And I figure if a farmer's daughter from Iowa can become an astronaut, you can be just about anything you want to be.

Being a biochemist, I did a lot of tissue-culture research prior to working at NASA and when I first started working there.

A lot of times, you think of things as being science fiction, but the creation of the ideas makes you want to solve them. Then, in solving them, they give us greater capability.

My work ethic is, I think, from my farm life.

The advice I give young people is that you have to pursue something, and you have to have fun along the way.

I knew I wanted to be a part of NASA in any case, and so I chose my goals in education to be consistent with working at NASA even as, you know, a scientist.

The first time I went into space was just so much more than you could imagine or prepare yourself for.

In space for a short time, I think most people could survive that. If you're sending an average person who's healthy for a short period of time, I think that's quite doable.