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Quotes by Astronaut
"We didn't use the shuttle robot arm before, so this has been a training flow to get ready for that."
"We launch when we're kind of in the same orbit that they are in terms of being matched up in inclination in space, and we're just in a little different altitude."
"We still have a lot of international partner modules that need to get up there to make it truly the international structure that it will be, and that's highly important; we need to get to where the crew size is bigger."
Will,
"We're on the same radius from the Earth, and then we start to swing around to where we're ahead of them on the velocity vector, so we come in relative to the station from this forward velocity position and dock on to the forward end of the Lab."
"We're taking up some science experiments, some crystal growth things, we have a refrigerator that carries up some samples, new samples that go into the station, we bring the old ones home; we have a lot of clothing, we have a lot of food-U.S. and Russian food."
"Although I know a lot of the previous shuttle flights, in theory, had their tasks laid out; but there were still some changes that came along for them."
"I did grow up with a really big interest in math and science; I liked it."
"It definitely helps to have been through the arm training flow before and to have used the arm on orbit, and it also gives me the confidence to know that our training facilities are really good, that when you get up there, you feel like you've been there."
"It is a very busy mission: every day has some major goals that we have to get through, but my experience before has been that at least in the evening, you kind of take a deep breath and look around where you are and have some downtime."
"I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets."
"The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel."
"This is a day we have managed to avoid for a quarter of a century."
"NASA wanted to assure its ability to examine the spacecraft in orbit for signs of damage."
"It is a challenge to have your launch date slip continuously."
"In 1983, NASA invited Canada to fly three payload specialists, in part because we had contributed the robotic arm that is used on the shuttle."
"After the Shuttle checks out on its two upcoming flights, it will be ready to take larger components up to the International Space Station later this fall."
"I wanted to further my education, so I went on to get a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and came back and served about ten years in the Canadian Navy as what we call a combat systems engineer."
"I think the crux of the matter was that if we were going to become partners in, for example, the International Space Station, we had to gain the respect of a country like the United States and particularly its space organization, NASA."
"I like the opportunity to travel the world and work in close company with other people."
"Canada's a huge country, so to be able to unite the country through communication satellite technology or to be able to observe it through remote sensing technology from space is a natural fit for a country like Canada."
"Canada has made a strong commitment as a partner in the International Space Station and, like the other partners, wishes to see the assembly of this unique orbiting laboratory continue."
"There are many experiments and a great deal of research that can be performed on the station that make a difference in our lives and we are committed to supporting this important vocation."
"The nature of the shuttle was, we couldn't put a crew escape system in it."
"The space shuttle has been a fantastic vehicle. It is unlike any other thing that we've ever built. Its capabilities have carried several hundred people into space."
"When you work really hard for something for a long time it's almost impossible to believe that it's coming true."
"We were only on orbit a little over two days, so we had no adverse effects from being weightless."
"We were flying on a winged vehicle that would do reentry different than we had ever done before. So all of those were firsts. Test pilots truly love firsts."
"You're going very fast when you're on orbit, going around the world once every hour and a half."
"Looking down at the Earth, you started to pick up a sense of speed much more than I had noticed on orbit."
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"Living inside the shuttle was a little like camping out. We ended up sleeping in our seats. You had to pay attention to housekeeping, not get things too dirty."
"I was selected to be an astronaut on a military program called the Manned Orbiting Laboratory back in '67. That program got cancelled in '69 and NASA ended up taking half of us."
"I thought it was going to take a lot more countdowns on the pad. We actually did scrub once, but I figured we'd scrub several times since it's a pretty complicated vehicle."
"Having the opportunity to fly the first flight of something like a space shuttle was the ultimate test flight."
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