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I was never going to be a rocket scientist. But I found the field that I was blessed to be able to do, and I just put my whole effort into that.

Rocket science is tough, and rockets have a way of failing.

NASA is an engine of innovation and inspiration as well as the world's premier space exploration agency, and we are well served by politicians working to keep it that way, instead of turning it into a mere jobs program, or worse, cutting its budget.

I've never thought of acting as rocket science - you put on the costume, get your hair cut, and that's it, really.

Careers, like rockets, don't always take off on time. The trick is to always keep the engine running.

Science isn't just for scientists - it's not just a training for careers.

We have to be plumbers, electricians, construction engineers, or workers, on the space station, but at the same time running a laboratory, being scientists, being the best laboratory assistants we can be. It's all in a bundle; it's very exciting, it's a lot of fun.

All the traditional STEM fields, the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, are stoked when you dream big in an agency such as NASA.

People are fascinated by space flight. It makes them interested in science, gets them asking questions and motivates them.

When it comes to space, I see it as my job, I'm building infrastructure the hard way. I'm using my resources to put in place heavy lifting infrastructure so the next generation of people can have a dynamic, entrepreneurial explosion into space.