I did not come to NASA to make history.

For quite some time, women at NASA only had scientific backgrounds.

Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same - it's not even close to the same.

I think eventually private enterprise will be able to send people into orbit, but I suspect initially it's going to have to be with NASA's help.

After the Challenger accident, NASA put in a lot of time to improve the safety of the space shuttle to fix the things that had gone wrong.

Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.