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I was interested in telescopes and the way they worked because I had an intense desire to see what things looked like, so I learned how to use telescopes and find things in the sky.

Certainly by the time I was in seventh grade, I knew I had to have a long education if I wanted to become an astronomer, but I figured I'd try it, and if I didn't get far enough, I could always end up teaching in high school or math or physics.

At the age of eight, I bought my first telescope and would spend hours gazing at the moon and stars. I remember thinking what it must have been like when man first realized that we were only a very small part of the overall picture.

I got into science fiction by being interested in astronomy first.

I think I set myself on a course to become a scientist around about the time that Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' series was on television, and there really was no going back for me at that point, and then I went on to study space science and then get my Ph.D., then go aboard and work in the European Space Agency.

I wanted to become a mathematician, physicist or astronomer.

I grew up obsessed with science fiction, and when I was really young, I wanted to be a scientist.

I think becoming a scientist is the product of parents who gave me enormous opportunities to master nature.

If I didn't choose art, I would have become an astronomer.