Julie Payette

We have always a roll to play in any community, and we have to do it - it's being part of a society.

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.

My son, Laurier, and I love being outdoors. We like to ski and to skate, to play in the snow, and simply to walk and enjoy the winter scenery.

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.

All my voice training comes from choir and small ensemble singing.

Human interaction is not a simple thing.

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.

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.

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.

My favourite thing about the holiday season is to spend time with family and friends and to take time off to celebrate.

We should continue all the time to look out for those who have less, to stand for those who can't, to reach out across differences, to use our land intelligently, to open our borders and welcome those who seek harbour, and never, ever cease to be curious, ask questions, and to explore and search.

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.