Latest Julie Payette Quotes from Interviews

• I really believe that, in 500 years, we will still remember the International Space Station, because it will have been the first time, really and truly, that nations put a lot of money, brains, resources, and effort together to build something peacefully, and to work together for the sole and unique purpose of furthering our knowledge and bringing it back to Earth for our mutual good.

  Julie Payette

  Believe, Unique, Effort

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• The science behind Interstellar is interesting, because some of it is absolutely real astrophysics and orbital mechanics, some of it is theoretical physics, and some of it is completely Hollywood. When a science fiction movie is based on plausible science, it's really good.

  Julie Payette

  Real, Interesting, Physics

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• I think it's the entire privilege I had to represent my country. It's not the going to space alone; it's to be part of that endeavour and to contribute a very small part to a very important step toward pushing the frontier.

  Julie Payette

  Country, Thinking, Important

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• If anything, when you're up in space and you're inside a space ship, which is your home, and without which you would not survive, you know that Earth is your home. This is the only place you can return. In fact we're very meticulous. Part of our job is to maintain the spaceship. If we apply the same kind of model to Earth maybe we'd have a different outlook.

  Julie Payette

  Home, Different, Earth

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• When you're a little different than others, it takes a little more time to fit in. If you really want to be there, there are no ingredients you need other than effort, perseverance and teamwork.

  Julie Payette

  Teamwork, Perseverance, Effort

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• The prerequisite that people have a scientific or engineering degree or a medical degree limits the number of female astronauts. Right now, still, we have about 20 per cent of people who have that prerequisite who are female. So hey, girls: Embrace the very fun career of science and technology. Look at computer science. That's what I did.

  Julie Payette

  Girl, Fun, Technology

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• The one thing we can't really train for is weightlessness, real weightlessness. It's a ton of fun. It's pure Newtonian physics. You push in one direction, you go in the opposite direction with an equal force.

  Julie Payette

  Fun, Real, Physics

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• On the day a country decides not to invest a cent in innovation, discovery or exploration, that country decides to be a tributary to others.

  Julie Payette

  Country, Innovation, Exploration

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• I always call myself a space construction worker. We were only the second mission ever to go to the space station. There was nothing on board. We brought the first three tons of equipment, including some of the Imax camera stuff. We literally switched the light on to the station and walked in. It was an assembly mission.

  Julie Payette

  Construction

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Almost everything I do when I approach an operational problem comes from the time I've been in space. It's a way of organizing your thoughts. We use problem-solving; what we call "what-if-ing." What if this happened? What would we do? We go over plan B, C, D, E, F, and whatever else, depending on the criticality of what we're doing. This kind of thing can be applied almost everywhere, even at home.

  Julie Payette

  Home, What If, Kind

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Will we go explore? Absolutely. That's what humans have been doing since we left the caves in Ethiopia. Why? Because this is part of our nature. We're curious. We want to push the envelope. That will never stop. We will see people on Mars, hopefully in our lifetime. My hope is that the endeavour is so large, so complex, so technically challenging, so demanding and so uplifting, that it will be done with a consortium of nations. I hope the people who do set foot on Mars will do so for all mankind, and not just one nation in particular.

  Julie Payette

  Uplifting, People, Challenges

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• 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. You don't go and get swept off your feet. That's not your job and that's not why you're hired. So if you get so mesmerized that you forget to do what you're supposed to do, whether it's to open the cargo door of the space shuttle or configure something inside, then you should not be there as a professional operator.

  Julie Payette

  People, Forget, Astronaut

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• 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. The seven billion of us are sharing a wonderful planet, and it's an absolute privilege to see it from above.

  Julie Payette

  Home, Earth, Wonderful

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Definitely you don't become famous by doing something bad; that's a professional death sentence. You remember that whatever you do, someone will be watching, and you study all the time. It sounds terrible, but you get used to it. I'm 45, and I'm still at school, essentially.

  Julie Payette

  School, Study, Remember

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Some people will always be volunteers to explore, and it is, in my mind, a privilege.

  Julie Payette

  People, Volunteer, Mind

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• You're always under the microscope, you don't know which mission you're going to get. It's a surprise.

  Julie Payette

  Surprise

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• You're less apprehensive when you know what to expect. Also, the first flight is very important in this performance-driven culture I work in; it establishes your reputation. If you don't do well, it's probably your last flight.

  Julie Payette

  Important, Culture, Reputation

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• My husband and I don't worry about each other the way we might if we didn't have similar jobs. I sometimes get an email where he tells me he's heading off on a mission to do terrain avoidance 50 feet above the ground at 500 knots. And I just say, "Okay, have a good flight."

  Julie Payette

  Jobs, Husband, Feet

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

• A lot of people, I think, would love to see the earth from above, wear a spacesuit. Certainly, when I was a kid, I wanted to wear a spacesuit.

  Julie Payette

  Kids, Thinking, People

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

• I am definitely a little more nervous for my colleagues when I'm working at mission control than I am myself, on the shuttle.

  Julie Payette

  Littles, Nervous, Missions

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

• Most people here don't have a wide emotional range. It's just the type of people astronauts are, they're required to be level.

  Julie Payette

  Emotional, People, Levels

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

• Definitely you don't become famous by doing something bad; that's a professional death sentence.

  Julie Payette

  Death Sentence, Sentences

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

• I'm 45, and I'm still at school, essentially. Even after being assigned to the mission, I had to write a number of exams, with people commenting on my performance.

  Julie Payette

  Writing, School, Numbers

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

• You're always under the microscope, and you don't know which mission you're going to get. It's a surprise.

  Julie Payette

  Surprise, Microscopes, Missions

  "Julie Payette returns to space". Interview with Kate Fillion, www.macleans.ca. February 4, 2009.

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