Shannon Walker Quotes

The reason that we don’t have happy hours up here is because you never know when something might actually go sideways, and so we always have to be prepared in a worst, worst case scenario to jump on our spacecraft and go home. So, we have to keep it pretty straight and narrow while we’re up here.

It is incredibly exciting to be able to actually go and live on the space station after having worked so long on seeing the hardware built, getting it launched and maintaining it.

Sunsets are absolutely amazing from the Space Station.

I’m so proud to represent my hometown on the International Space Station where we conduct scientific research that can benefit all of humankind.

NASA works very well with different election organizations because we’re all voting from different counties.

The Soyuz is probably only slightly smaller than the Dragon.

Well, I was quite young when we first walked on the moon; I had just turned four, but I did watch it on TV. I think that just set the seed right then that that would be a really interesting thing to do.

Most of my family and friends are very familiar with the human space flight program and with the excitement of becoming an astronaut.

Being in space is amazing – it’s the reason we all become astronauts – but you also have to love what you’re doing on the ground, since that’s how you’ll spend most of your time.

I enjoy traveling and seeing new places – especially places where I can go hiking.

I’m one who likes to eat regularly, so not being able to eat for eight hours makes me a little cranky.

My degrees are in physics and space physics, and I did well enough in university that I actually started working at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, as a robotics flight controller right after college.

The important thing is to try to stay connected with friends and family.

My sleeping bag is affixed to a wall and I climb inside and sort of float around in the sleeping bag at night while I’m sleeping.

It’s fascinating to learn math and science and engineering.

I can talk about casting a ballot from space since I did it last time I was on the space station. They basically send you an electronic file, it’s a PDF, and you mark your choices.

I liked learning things. I liked solving problems and doing my homework. I realize a lot of kids don’t like that, but I always enjoyed going to school.

To be honest, I haven‘t really put much thought into the fact that I am the first woman on a commercial vehicle. I expect to be the first of many, and look forward to the day that we don’t have to note such events.

Houston is where I grew up and luckily I didn’t have to go far to pursue my dream of becoming an astronaut.

To be able to watch our colleagues, our friends come home safely is always an emotional event.

NASA needs to decide, along with Congress, what our destination is going to be, whether it’s going to be the moon, an asteroid or on to Mars. And we’re building a heavy-lift vehicle to get us there and building the capsules that’s going to be needed to carry the crew.

When your flying in a jet aircraft, everything goes much faster.

We have stars, planets and galaxies in space. There’s lots of nothingness out there, but it’s really not. There’s gas, dust and other bits of matter floating around emptier’ areas of the universe, but you can’t see it very easily.

I was having a hard time getting interest from future employers because of my physics background. It seemed all anyone wanted was engineers.

So much of our training focuses so much on the systems and how to operate the station, and not just the day-to-day life in terms of slowing down and enjoying the experience.

When I was growing up, I used to have dreams of going to fly. Being in space reminds me of that.

Growing up in Houston I did go through the public school system. I went to Parker Elementary, Johnston Junior High and Westbury Senior High.

If you work hard, the things to which you aspire can happen.

One thing I really like about flying is that it is an activity that my mother and I can do together.

There is something quite special about getting into a plane with my mother and going somewhere.

It’s a little surprising to me that I’m the first Houstonian to be an astronaut.

At a young age, I became interested in space and science after watching the U.S. land on the moon for the first time.

I studied physics as an undergraduate, and after I graduated from Rice University, I was actually hired at the Johnson Space Center as a flight controller.