The really wonderful thing that happened to me when I was in space was this feeling of belonging to the entire universe.
— Mae Jemison
Seeing a full display of humanity involved in space is a game-changer for everyone. We've all looked at the stars; we've all imagined what was going on. Not everyone wants to go, but everyone wants to know what it's like.
The drills we do, where you're telling kids to memorize things, don't actually work. What works is engaging them and letting them do things and discover things.
When I left NASA, I was looking at how you could use space technologies for developing countries' work.
My perspective is the Earth will be here. It just may not be habitable to our life form. We get confused. We think we're the center of everything.
I think we know how to do Mars.
When I was a little girl, I thought when I had an opportunity to go into space, I thought I would at a minimum be working on Mars or another large planet because we were doing all of these incredible things.
The fact we don't have a lunar base has nothing to do with the technology. It has to do with public commitment and societal support.
I like to think of ideas as potential energy. They're really wonderful, but nothing will happen until we risk putting them into action.
When I was growing up as a little girl and as a teenager, I loved designing and making dogs' clothes and wanting to be a fashion designer. I took art and ceramics. I loved dance.
I had great mentors in my parents who always sought to understand the world around them. And they would push me to really think things through.
The level of confidence women are able to build in women-only groups is important.
The reality is that we know that this universe, that our galaxy, has billions of stars. We know that stars have planets. So the likelihood that there is life somewhere else to me is just absolutely there.
I was a science fiction geek. That lets you know that they come in all sizes and styles, right?
In fourth grade, I was interested in all areas of science. I particularly loved learning about how the earth was created.
Some of the most fun people I know are scientists.
We look at science as something very elite, which only a few people can learn. That's just not true. You just have to start early and give kids a foundation. Kids live up, or down, to expectations.
We put water down into the earth to push up gas, then we say, 'Ooh, we're having a water crisis.' This is foolishness, and this kind of foolishness, where we try to excuse human behavior, is dangerous.
I believe the biggest impediment we have right now with going to Mars is public commitment. More people need to see themselves as a part of space travel; we need to see more inclusiveness.
When you have teachers saying, 'I don't have enough time for hands-on activities,' we need to rethink the way we do education.
Everyone in the astronaut program has a degree in a science field. The crew are the ones who do the experiments, help to design some of the experiments that come from other primary researchers. So it becomes very important that you have a science background.
We have to change the way people look at scientists. Today, they are the nerds, the geeks. Instead, we want some of the cool kids to say, 'Hey, this is all right.'
People like space. But they sometimes have been left out. People are much more open to that if you invite them in.
Timidity does not inspire bold acts.
Sometimes parents squash students' interests because they are afraid of science or math. So they don't participate. You don't have to know the answers to engage kids; you just have to let them know it's important.
What I'm very concerned about is how do we bolster our self-awareness as humans, as biological organisms?
I've gotten this advice at different times, and it distills down to one word: purpose. Why are you here? When you start to get distracted by thoughts such as 'Do I fit in? Does this person like me?' - remember why you're there and what you want to accomplish.
There is a fascination with the idea that one has 'seen someone else do something' before one can achieve it. Maybe that's true in some cases, but clearly it is not a requirement. I knew what I wanted to do.
We are all tasked to balance and optimize ourselves.
One Hundred Year Starship really is about the idea that is we pursue an extraordinary tomorrow; we'll build a better world today.
I want to make sure that that future that we're creating is one that is the best it can be for people around the world, and also one that includes the full range of our talent and our skills - and, you know, gender and ethnicity, geography - to solving the world's problems.
I'd love to go into space again if there were a mission to Mars. I'd also love to go to a completely different planetary system, out of our solar system.
As an astronaut, you have a very defined set of tasks to do. Those tasks may require you to work 60, 70 or 80 hours a week.
What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach it in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens up to the possibilities.
I'm not somebody who gets teared up or anything, but I still look up at the stars, and it gives me hope, and it gives me energy. I think one of the things that we have to think about it is, we are all a part of this universe.
A big part of engaging kids in science is not getting the single, correct answer; it's being willing to work with students to discover the correct answer.
Kids come out of the chute liking science. They ask, 'How come? Why? What's this?' They pick up stuff to examine it. We might not call that science, but it's discovering the world around us.
I wanted to be a scientist, but I wanted to go into space. They are not mutually exclusive.
The reality is the majority of us will not get off this planet. So the long run is, some kind of space exploration has to benefit us here on Earth.
To survive as a species on this planet, we're going to have to see ourselves as Earthlings.
I think that people need an adrenalin rush. Folks need something aspirational; they need to do something that is hard. That's what ignites the imagination.
The best way to get students involved in science and want to follow either science careers or incorporate it in their lives or to achieve science literacy is to expose them to the various jobs in STEM. It's broad from biologists to electricians to nanotechnologists to building fusion engines. It's a wide range of things.
Intuitive versus analytical? That's a foolish choice. It's foolish, just like trying to choose between being realistic or idealistic. You need both in life.
There are individuals who can support you, but frequently, you have to risk putting yourself out there - and sometimes you just have to push.
People put themselves in difficult situations in lots of different areas. What you count on is people taking every precaution. The aerospace industry is unique in this aspect because a thousandths-of-an-inch mistake can cause spectacular failures.
I was thinking as a little girl growing up that I would be there. When I look at whether we can go to Mars, it's definitely something we can do.
For me, it was really a childhood dream coming true. It's sort of where the fantasy led reality, and then I got to be on the Starship Enterprise anyway. And the cool thing was - is I was the only person on this bridge who had actually been in space.
The biggest challenge we all face is to learn about ourselves and to understand our strengths and weaknesses. We need to utilize our strengths, but not so much that we don't work on our weaknesses.
In space, you need to exercise your heart since it's not pumping blood around at the same rate.
Some people say they feel very small when they think about space. I felt more expansive, very connected to the universe.
