Julie Payette
Our values are tolerance and determination and freedom of religion, freedom to act, opportunities, equality of opportunities amongst everyone and for all.Collection: Equality
I'm a true believer in the strength of teamwork, in the power of dreams.Collection: Dreams
I'm a true believer in the strength of teamwork, in the power of dreams, and in the absolute necessity of a support structure.Collection: Dreams
In a modern and innovative society, where advancements are plentiful and communication is instantaneous, science and technology are a part of everyday life.Collection: Communication
I will take every constructive criticism, make it my own, learn from my mistake, and go forward.
I learned that you have to be careful about how you say things but not what you say.
Let's work together to keep our country open, tolerant, respectful, and progressive.
Anyone can accomplish anything and rise to the challenge as long as they are willing to work with others, to let go of the personal agenda, to reach a higher goal, and to do what is right for the common good.
It reassures me that when we get together as a community, when we put our effort together and our will to help others, we can achieve anything, and that is a lesson for us all.
The weather of the U.A.E. is phenomenal: very nice and clear.
Everything evolves, and I evolve, too.
I don't pretend to be perfect.
Whatever your interests or abilities, I encourage you stay active during the holiday season.
If you want more kids to become engineers in space, travellers, and pilots, then you have to expose them to those types of careers.
What's really important is to recognize when people do great things or when people pursue an initiative or show enormous generosity or heart or bravery.
I'm 9, 10, and I'm watching the Apollo astronauts go to the moon. We're sitting on the floor of a school, and they have this... huge TV, and I'm looking at that, and I'm thinking 'Me, I would like to do that.' But it didn't dawn on me then that they were American; I was Canadian. They were men; I was a girl. They were test pilots, military folks.
I'm still convinced that - I'm sorry to say - the body of evidence shows that the planet is warming up. And it's warming up at a certain rate that has never been seen before in the history of the planet. We have to take that seriously.
I actually don't remember Apollo 11 exactly because, at the time, I was five years old. The landing happened at night, and the walk on the moon happened at night eastern time, and I asked my parents; my mom said I was probably asleep, and so I just don't have any recollection. I do have recollection of the later missions to the moon.
Clearly, when I first started talking about the fact that I wanted to be an astronaut, I was in primary school, so people understand that we want to be all kinds of things then. It's not a big deal.
I am from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I was born there, and I am a twelfth Montrealer.
My dad, who likes genealogy, knows who was the first guy that came from France in 1655, and the guy settled in Montreal, and Montreal is an island where the city is in Quebec.
When I became an astronaut, I was an engineer.
I think that we are blessed to live here in Canada.
I welcome comments. I think criticism can be very constructive and can help further. I mean, there's no perfect perfection anywhere. There's no perfect picture.
Every event, whether they're positive or negative, shapes us. And sometimes, events happen that we couldn't even fathom.
I was a flight engineer on my second flight, which is the most senior position a non-American can have aboard the shuttle. We're the cockpit crew. We fly the vehicle up to space, dock the vehicle to the space station, undock it at the end of the mission, and return it to the ground.
Most astronauts are very down-to-earth people. Many of us, three-quarters, have an engineering degree, and we have a very Cartesian, rational approach to things.
When I saw the Earth from above, personally, as a spacecraft operator, it certainly reinforced and drove home the fact that there's one place where we can live right now.
I always call myself a space construction worker.
Human interaction is not a simple thing.
If you're in space on the way to Mars, and a conflict develops... you can't turn around and go back, because Earth is already gone on its orbit.
I'd love to serve on the Enterprise.
We sleep very well in space. We have a sleeping bag each, and when you get into it, you float in the sleeping bag.
It is clear that I am a person who believes fundamentally in facts, evidence, data, and science, which supports decision-making and allows us to function as a society based on knowledge.
As a 12th-generation Canadian, I'm exactly just that, a Canadian, and I am here to serve all Canadians of all backgrounds, of all walks of life, either new or not so new.
It is one planet and we all have a duty to protect it. We have to work together. We have to use our power to work together and make decisions and changes that are needed to preserve our world.
On my first mission, I was the spacewalk supervisor: the person that runs the spacewalk from inside the vehicle. As such, I was the one that closed the hatch when my colleagues left to work outside for six hours. And I was also the person who opens the hatch when they come back, and we repressurize.
We have fans that circulate air in the cabin of the module of the space shuttle. They're running all the time. They're absolutely necessary because, otherwise, you will breathe your own CO2 and intoxicate yourself quite fast.
I really feel like, on my first mission, the first mission is when you prove yourself and hopefully deserve the privilege to continue as an astronaut and remain in the corps and get granted an opportunity for a second mission.
Science is fun, and it's fundamental.
I am very fortunate - I grew up with music.
There was a substantial vinyl collection in my home, and my mom played piano. We, the children, were enrolled in piano lessons very early on.
I am classically trained in piano, flute, and voice.
All my voice training comes from choir and small ensemble singing.
We have always a roll to play in any community, and we have to do it - it's being part of a society.
Part of the role that I am fulfilling as Governor General is to highlight what communities can do together.
Will we have a colony on Mars? I think so.
You can learn at any age, but when you are young, you are like a sponge, and when you are introduced to more different types of things before the age of seven and eight, then you get fascinated by that.
Young kids get motivated by everything. If they see a great dancer, some of them would want to become a dancer. If they see a great soccer player, they want to become a soccer player.
I am definitely a little more nervous for my colleagues when I'm working at mission control than I am myself on the shuttle.