Quotes from Kathleen Rubins

You absolutely know you're in space when you're doing a spacewalk. That was pretty interesting because you can feel vacuum. It actually changes your vocal cords because the pressure inside the suit drops quite a bit, so your voice feels different.

When we're doing the space walks, we're working very very hard. Every single minute is choreographed. But there's a few minutes here and there where ground is maybe talking about something, and you have to put your tools down and wait. Just getting a chance to look through your visor and see the planet go by was incredible.

From as young as I can remember, I wanted to be - in order - an astronaut, a geologist, and a biologist.

I think it's going to be amazing to see how the world of microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, and human physiology is massively changed by microgravity.

I kind of watch anything on the Syfy channel.

I'm involved with health care/medical supply delivery to Africa and started a non-profit organization to bring supplies to Congo.

Folks should find what really inspires them; they should always pursue what they want to do.

It changes your perspective to be able to look out the window and see the planet. One of the thoughts that I had when I first got up here was, 'We really do live on a planet, and we are in a solar system, and we are flying through space right now.' I mean, this is something that you know, obviously, but to see the planet - it's amazing.

I think young folks have a good sense of what they want to do.

I was the one with a subscription to 'Sky and Telescope' magazine as a kid while my friends were reading 'Tiger Beat.'

I think it's reasonable: you can own your nerd credibility when you're an astronaut.

For long-duration exploration missions, NASA is looking for folks with a lot of operational, hands-on experience, people who have been in field-type situations such as military deployments. In my case, I worked in the Congo and in Biosafety Level 4 labs on smallpox.

I thought that NASA didn't take biologists and so nothing would come of it. But I knew I would regret it if I did not apply.

I don't think you ever really decide that you want to be an astronaut. I put in an application and hoped for the best.

When I was 16, my dad took me to a DNA conference at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco, California, and I was captivated by this way of looking at biology and by the discussions of bits of nucleic acid that could make us sick.

NASA trains you to assess emergency situations and react in a way to keep yourself and everyone else safe.

Sequencing DNA on the ISS will enable NASA to see what happens to genetic material in space in real time, rather than looking at a snapshot of DNA before launch and another snapshot of DNA after launch and filling in the blanks.

If you find something that you're excited about and you're interested in, my advice to young women and young men would be do what you're really interested in and what drives and motivates you.

Spaceflight is a tricky business. It is definitely difficult, and I think we forget that sometime.

I've always been fascinated with science and exploring our world, from microbes to the solar system.

I thought I was prepared for space, and it still absolutely defied every expectation and dream. It is an incredible thing to put yourself on a rocket and launch off the planet. It is an amazing thing to see the planet from space. This blue sphere is almost indescribably beautiful.

Joining NASA was very exciting, but it was the hardest decision I have had to make in my life.

There's a world of insights to be gained into human health and disease by understanding how gravity and space radiation influence biology.

As an undergraduate majoring in biology at the University of California, San Diego, I worked on infectious diseases at the nearby Salk Institute for Biological Studies.