Quotes from Peggy Whitson

I know the first female astronauts selected were definitely an inspiration to me, and so maybe I will be a role model.

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.

I don't sing in the shower.

I was inspired by the men who walked on the moon. It really was my inspiration, I think, you know, as a kid of 9 years old - I know I'm dating myself, but - I thought, 'What a cool job!'

Gravity always sucks. It really, really does. It's a big challenge just re-adapting to feeling heavy again, you know? Even my arm feels heavy. My legs feel heavy.

It's like being a bird, maybe, the perspective of flying over the Earth.

You see billions and billions of stars and recognize that you know some of those have planets, too, and maybe there's life out there, and this is just one of billions of galaxies... and so it gives you this huge perspective of how far we potentially have to go for real exploration.

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

I think the legacy of the space station will be that we can do something this technically complex in an international way.

I think probably the discoveries made by Hubble Space Telescope have been very dramatic, very amazing.

I am not sure what the future holds for me personally, but I envision myself continuing to work on spaceflight programs.

Here, in low earth orbit, we're going around the earth, so we can actually use an Internet protocol phone because we have the appropriate satellites that can get those bandwidths.

I started out as a farm girl in Iowa, and I dreamed of being an astronaut and an explorer. And I made it.

I learned to not be afraid to fix things that break.

One of the things I think is really cool that we're testing on board the International Space Station is the water reclamation system.

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

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.

Breaking records has never been my goal. I think it's important that we're continually pushing our limits and showing that we can extend beyond what we have done before.

One thing that flying in space does for you is it gives you a change in perspective. We all have to live in the same place.

I would love to set foot on another planet - lunar or Mars or somewhere.

On my first flight, I don't know if maybe it's a function of time, or if I was less stressed on my second flight, but just being able to tell what part of the planet we were flying over by the reflected light coming through the window - that was pretty special.

I love Italian, Mexican, Thai. Something spicy.

One of the most beautiful sights is when the rim of the Earth is bright on one side, and you see this defined line of the atmosphere. You see how close and thin it is. We've got to be careful. We've got to take care of this planet.

Everything every day here on Earth is based on gravity, and you don't realize it until you don't have it anymore.