Famous quotes by Leroy Chiao:
"We think Mars exploration is in our future. It may be a little ways out there possibly but that's the whole essence of being human is that we'd like to explore and Mars is something we have dreamed about and set our sights on."
"We've been soaking everything up in this week of transition, ... The station looks quite a bit different from the last time I was here."
"I think one of the big moments for me was the second EVA. Basically it was the last EVA of my career, my flying career, so it was poignant for me to look out in to the black, open space and bid space farewell."
"With the addition of the laboratory and docking compartments [since then], the station is quite a bit bigger,"
"The mental stress shouldn't be underplayed. When you're out there doing the work, you can't help but feel the pressure."
"I would say keep supporting space flight, keep telling the public and the politicians why it's important to advance science and explore the galaxy. I encourage the Japanese to keep doing what they're doing."
"I loved flying as much as I thought I would and continue to fly aircraft."
"One of my challenges was to try to photograph the Great Wall of China. And I did actually take some photos, but it was hard to discern the wall with the naked eye."
"There is no one area of chemical engineering that specifically helped me in my career as an astronaut, it was more the general education in engineering. Also, it was a very difficult and rigorous course. So, it made me strong and resourceful."
"I had done everything I could do as an astronaut, and we have a long line of inexperienced astronauts waiting for their first missions, and so my role really should be to step aside and help them prepare for their missions, rather than to try to get another mission."
"But a lot of that kind of work is done pre-flight, coordinating efforts with the flight directors and the ground teams, and figuring out how you're going to operate together."
"Tinkering is something we need to know how to do in order to keep something like the space station running. I am a tinkerer by nature."
"Of course, you'll have to meet the physical and psychological demands. A space walk takes a lot of energy."
"There were different challenges along the way. Certainly the food shortage was unpleasant."
"Our task was doing maintenance and repairs to keep the station in a good state for the return of the shuttle flights and resumption of major ISS construction."
