We're going to enjoy another day on orbit and we'll see you on Earth tomorrow.
We brought Discovery back in great shape. The crew was very anxious to walk around and see what the outside looks like and it looks fantastic.
We reflect on the last shuttle mission , the great ship Columbia and her inspiring crew
We have had a fantastic mission. We are so glad to come back and be able to say it's a success.
I wanted to apply to the astronaut program after the Challenger accident
I have no nerves, no emotion, no pressure.
The vast majority of the shuttle program was a success. We learned so much about how a reusable spacecraft interacts with its environment, how it ages-and what to design next time.
I'm honored to be the first woman to have the opportunity to command the shuttle. I don't really think about that on a day-to-day basis because I really don't need to.
My daughter just thinks that all moms fly the Space Shuttle
The atmosphere almost looks like an eggshell on an egg, it's so thin. We know that we don't have much air - we need to protect what we have.
I don’t think of myself as being a woman and having anything to prove,
Because of [Amelia Earhart], we had more women available to fly in the 1940's to help us get through World War II. And because of these women, women of my generation are able to look back and say, 'Hey, they did it. They even flew military airplanes, we can do it, too.'
We want to explore. We're curious people. Look back over history, people have put their lives at stake to go out and explore ... We believe in what we're doing. Now it's time to go.
Some people said, “we don't want to risk astronauts lives anymore, we need to stop doing this”. The astronauts don't feel that wayWe fly for our country, we fly for humanity, we fly for exploration, we fly for a variety of reasons, and we don't stop flying because we have accidents.
Looks like I might have some cleaning up to do when I get home.
She was praying for us -- everybody was praying for us. That's another reason I knew we were safe.
My dream, now, is that people will discover and invent new ways to fly higher, faster and farther and that someday humans will travel beyond our solar system.
I wish I could come back up here whenever I wanted.
I wish I could come back here whenever I wanted to have these views. And also the rest of the world had the opportunity to come up here, but it is time to end the mission.
I have had a lot of thoughts about Columbia and I will have thoughts after the landing, We're all going to be very focused ... on the job at hand.
I can honestly say that in my job day to day, I'm not really aware that there's any difference between male and female crew members. It may be cool to the rest of the world that a woman is the commander of this flight. I think that's great.
I believe the gap fillers are similar to what we had seen in previous flights.
Getting the shuttle back up there is just going to bring the space station back to its full potential.
For those of us who have flown before , that was by far the smoothest ascent .
Had we listened a little bit more and paid attention to the hardware that was talking to us, we probably could have prevented the accident. We need to learn from the mistakes we made ... I am continually reminding myself that we're in a dangerous business.
The people that I have worked with have just been superb, just the finest professionals, people who truly love the space program.
We made the best decision based on what we knew at the time.
He was pretty educated about what we do in a general sense.
Our flight is the next flight of many in the human exploration of the universe .
I was quite nervous about whether I could throw out the ball and hit it spot on. He didn't even have to move to catch it. I was quite happy.
Whether your commander is a man or woman doesn't really matter when it comes to getting your mission done.
We are ready for whatever we need to do.
The crew was anxious to see what the outside (of the craft) looked like and it looks fantastic.
We are staying focused on the mission and we know we are in good hands with the people on the ground
There are 2 million other parts on the space shuttle that are working perfectly right now
You guys made the right decision. We're going to enjoy another orbit.
This situation, I believe, will certainly be safer for entry. I'm actually not that worried about it.
We have definitely accomplished all our mission objectives.
Discovery is in absolutely great shape. I'm pretty confident about the entry (into the atmosphere) and I'm thinking about the landing.
I've been in your shoes many times so I understand.
Personally , I did not expect any large pieces of foam to fall off the external tank
This is a wonderful moment for all of us to experience.
This is really a chance for us to share what we did on the flight.
This mission is a dream come true for all of us, not just to fly on the shuttle but to fly on this very important mission.
It's just been a wild ride. We've finally been able to put the icing on the cake with this mission.
For many of us it's been four years since we trained for (this mission) and its been a wonderful experience.
OK, Houston we copy that. We'll be a wave off for today.
It will be expensive, it will be risky and we will make mistakes as we go. But we will do it because we are explorers by nature.
I leave the astronaut job with great memories but also great expectations for our country's future in space.
In some ways I feel sad about leaving NASA, but the reality is, I won't fly again.
I had been gone from my family and I sort of want to make it up to them this summer and spend a good summer with my family.
I think about the Columbia crew every day. I feel like we are carrying on their mission.
Houston, we have a good deploy. Chandra is ready to open the eyes of X-ray astronomy to the world.
Houston, Discovery, wheels are down. We're all happy to be back again.
