Laurel Clark Quotes

When you talk to crews that went to Mir or have gone up to International Space Station, they say that you go through different phases of adaptation or getting used to the space environment.

The most uncomfortable thing about going to space is coming home. It's a little strange to get used to gravity again.

Life as an astronaut in space is a very interesting one. There are things we all take for granted here on earth, like gravity, that can make things a bit challenging. One of the fun things about getting here is the zero gravity and floating around. But it also makes things very difficult.

Adjusting to space is easier than adjusting to Earth for me.

We wanted to be in great shape, we wanted to be able to cope with zero gravity, we wanted to be able to cope with accelerations and decelerations and so on. So all of us trained so that we were probably in the best physical condition we had ever been in up until that point.

I thought the attractions of being an astronaut were actually, not so much the Moon, but flying in a completely new medium.

I slept just floating in the middle of the flight deck, the upper deck of the space shuttle.

In the Astronaut Office we're never totally out of training, we always keep our hand in it. But after five years, things have changed and so it's been good to get back into the flow and relearn a lot of things.

The microgravity or the very, very low amount of gravity that we have up in space forces some changes in different processes. It forces changes in us as human beings.

I could have gone on flying through space forever.

The view from space is really very special. From the window, you can look back at the Earth and see the stars around you. I just hope that more people from Britain get the chance to experience it.

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, and you want to throw up.

Coming down under a parachute is quite different as well. You hit the ground pretty hard, but all the systems work very well to keep it from hurting, so it doesn't even hurt when you hit. It was a great experience to be able to do both.

Adaption of the human body in space is not yet mastered. As soon as you hit space, you feel your body is going through a period of mutation. There's no blood in your head; you have a hard time swallowing. We're not born to naturally be in space.

Everyone that I've talked to who's been to space has thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and what you often hear them say is: It was great, but we just had to come home.

The reason space missions need artificial gravity is clear: humans simply did not evolve to live in zero gravity.

That's really why I want to go to space - I want to be weightless for so long that it gets boring.

On Earth, I weighed 150 pounds; my suit and backpack weighed another 150. 300 pounds. Up there, I weighed only 50. So I could prance around on my toes. It was quite easy to do.

In space, if you push, you are usually going somewhere, so staying on the treadmill was a challenge at first, even with the harness.

The first 6 hours of being in orbit were a little difficult on my stomach. I think things just didn't know where to go!

It seems like in the beginning of my flight, the space dreams were rare. And now, almost 150 days into it, the Earth dreams are more of the rare ones.

Zero G and I feel fine.

Everyone who's been in space would, I'm sure, welcome the opportunity for a return to the exhilarating experiences there.

I cannot wait to get up there and experience space travel for the first time. It will be a dream come true.

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