To be one of the world's top space robotic arm operators is a necessary skill for an astronaut, but it doesn't have much carry-over.

When I was nine, I wanted to be an astronaut but at that time there weren't any Canadian astronauts. You had to be American or Soviet. So many things will be possible in your lifetimes.

We have never lost a crew member on the space station, but of course, the Columbia accident. I was - I'd already been an astronaut for a decade when the crew of Columbia was killed. And I went through test pilot school. Rick Husband and I were out at Edwards at test pilot school together. He was the commander of Columbia.

As an astronaut, especially during launch, half of the risk of a six-month flight is in the first nine minutes.

I'll reach up with the shuttle arm, almost like passing a baton from the new arm to the old arm,

When I did my spacewalks, it was during space station construction. So the shuttle was docked to the fledgling ISS at the time. So we would always stay tethered.