I'm a true believer in the strength of teamwork, in the power of dreams.

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 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.

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.

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.