I’ve had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.

And then finally, I’m the commander, so I am fundamentally responsible for the lives of the other people on board and the health and longevity of the space station. I need to bring six people...

I think Canada in general should be very proud of our capabilities. We are absolute world leaders in space robotics,

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

Nothing focuses your mind quite like flying a jet. That’s one reason NASA requires that astronauts fly T-38s: it forces us to concentrate and prioritize in some of the same ways we need to in...

My optimism and confidence come not from feeling I’m luckier than other mortals, and they sure don’t come from visualizing victory. They’re the result of a lifetime spent visualizing defeat and figuring out how to...

Russians aren’t perfect. Their politics are messed up, and they keep going through self-defeating economic cycles. But I have a lot of respect for Russia, and a lot of love for Russians.

The Soyuz craft weighs tons, and you’re lying on the floor of it on your back. But the Russians do tell you, remember, before you land, stop talking so you don’t bite your tongue off.

The best simulator for spacewalking is underwater – it allows full visuals and body movement in 3D. Virtual reality is good, too, and has some advantages, like full Station simulation, not just part. Like all...

I think there are lots of ways to exercise ambition and accomplish things using leadership without going into elected politics. So, categorically, I have no intention of going into elected politics. None.

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.

For whatever reason, I decided: ‘I’m 18, I’m a man, I’m going to grow a moustache’ – and it was pathetic for years – it was awful.

One place that I looked at a lot from space and which looks alluring is New Zealand, especially the North Island. It’s a big broad valley with a river flowing through it, and you can...

Life off Earth is in two important respects not at all unworldly: you can choose to focus on the surprises and pleasures, or the frustrations. And you can choose to appreciate the smallest scraps of...

You could look at something a hundred times from space, but the next time you come around the world, suddenly it’s very different and gorgeous-looking, just because of the change of weather or the angle...

It’s a really big deal to do a spacewalk. It’s much riskier than staying indoors. It’s complex. It uses up a lot of the precious resources onboard. It uses up oxygen. It uses up carbon...

If you don’t like airline food, you’ll probably have the same impression of space station food. I would not fly to space for the food.

I’ve been so lucky to have done two spacewalks. If you looked at your wristwatch, I was outside about 15 hours, which is about 10 times around the world. And, you know, there’s a whole...

You made the first space station docking look effortless,

My father was an airline pilot, so we travelled more spontaneously than a lot of families. On a Thursday, we could decide to go somewhere like Barbados the next day for a long weekend.

The beauty of the space station, and of human spaceflight, is that it is now at a level of maturity where you can invite people on-board, which is what I worked so hard to do...

Value the wisdom of humility, as well as the sense of perspective it gives you.

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....

Think about what happens on Earth when you throw up. You throw up and you have a bag of something horrible and then you throw it away, but if I have this bag, what am...

Our role is to develop techniques that allow us to provide emergency life-saving procedures to injured patients in an extreme, remote environment without the presence of a physician.

In the Soyuz, the little Russian capsule, you can actually hear the banging of the big shield, the big heat shield on the bottom, as it slowly erodes away from the heat and pieces of...

When we needed a long extension on the Canadarm 1 in order to be able to inspect the outside plus sensors on the end, NASA . ‘ . ‘ . looked through the whole world for who...

Some of the greatest reality television we ever had was the moon landings. When you think about it, that was human emotion and people, unscripted, working with each other – and millions and millions of...

When you look out the window of a spaceship, you see entire countries, vast swaths of continents. One turn of the head covers what once took thousands of years to traverse at ground level.

Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences...

When we first get to space, we feel sick. Your body is really confused. You’re dizzy. Your lunch is floating around in your belly because you’re floating. What you see doesn’t match what you feel,...

To be on my very first spacewalk, to be outside, and to have contamination in my suit to the point that I couldn’t see in either eye – that, I think, would cause some people...

For the last several years and culminating in six months in orbit next year, I’ve been training for my third space flight. This one is almost in a category completely different than the previous two,...

Spacewalking trumps everything. Viscerally, it is a phenomenal place to be; to be able to glance right and see the world, glance left and see the universe, and realise for a moment that you’re holding...

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

‘Boldface’ is a pilot term, a magic word to describe the procedures that could, in a crisis, save your life. We say that ‘boldface is written in blood’ because often it’s created in response to...

I’ve been lucky enough to fly to space twice.

Almost everything worthwhile carries with it some sort of risk, whether it’s starting a new business, whether it’s leaving home, whether it’s getting married, or whether it’s flying in space.

So without that Canadian invention we were grounded. And so that was a really important and key part of the mission and Canadians should take real pride in it.

What I like to do when I get to a new place is buy local music early on and listen to it while we’re driving around. I think it helps explain and illuminate the culture...

I’m really looking forward to it, if you can imagine floating weightless, watching the world pour by through the big bay window of the space station playing a guitar; just a tremendous place to think...

There’s always constantly interesting things to do, and who knows, maybe I will be a good sculptor. I haven’t decided what I am going to do next, but I am not going to quit just...

Now picture Sasha floating freely in space and she wanted to go to sleep.

Ever since I was nine years old and I watched Neil and Buzz walk on the moon, I have felt passionately that this is an interesting human adventure. This is one of the things we’re...

No aeroplane you’ve ever gotten into had less than thousands of flights before they took their first passenger. Because vehicles are unsafe at first.

You should have a fear of some things. That doesn’t mean it incapacitates you from your ability to figure out a way to deal with it.

I’m a mechanical engineer, and I grew up on a farm, so I like practical hardware – somebody’s elegant solution that proves itself over the long term.

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.

A lot of people live in fear because they haven’t figured out how you’re going to react when faced with a certain set of circumstances. I’ve come to terms with this by looking deeply into...

Although simulators are great for building step-by-step knowledge of a procedure, the worst thing that can happen in a sim is that you get a bad grade on your performance.