In terms of goals for NASA before I die, we need to be living on Mars. And I might not live that long, so they better get on with it!
— Peggy Whitson
Life in zero gravity is hard to simulate. We practice on the ground what we call 'the day in the life' simulations, but it's just practicing some of the tests. It can't prepare you for the fact that all of your tools float if you don't pay attention to where they are! If you don't Velcro things down, they're gonna float away.
My undergraduate, I double-majored in biology and chemistry. Biology was kind of my love.
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!'
I have been blessed with some really special crewmates. Being able to be a really integral member of the team, no matter what role I was in, was truly special.
I think probably the discoveries made by Hubble Space Telescope have been very dramatic, very amazing.
I would love to set foot on another planet - lunar or Mars or somewhere.
I came from Iowa, south central Iowa. It was a very rural area. I saw a lot more hogs growing up than I saw people.
My desire to contribute to the spaceflight team as we move forward in our exploration of space has only increased over the years.
I honestly do think that it is critical that we are continuously breaking records, because that represents us moving forward in exploration.
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.
To be able to float and move around and, pretty much effortlessly, do whatever you want with your body in space is pretty amazing.
I knew I wanted to be a part of NASA in any case, and so I chose my goals in education to be consistent with working at NASA even as, you know, a scientist.
I am not sure what the future holds for me personally, but I envision myself continuing to work on spaceflight programs.
