 I didn't have a master plan to become an astronaut. I viewed myself as somebody who was inspired early on by the space program, but I knew that I wanted to serve in the military and that I wanted to be a military officer. My career evolved in this order. I was a soldier, then I was a physician, and saw an opportunity to apply to be an astronaut with no expectation of ever being selected. One of the most important things that I have learned in my military career is how to be a good teammate, how to build a good team, and how to work through problems together. Who is so thoughtful that it's fantastic to work with somebody that is so careful about other people, so conscious, and at the same time it makes me feel bad that I'm not as good as he is. Oh, that is untrue, untrue. Life is a team sport and being able to do that well, it makes life more enjoyable and in the end it will make you more successful. Luca really pushes me to strive to be better and better because he just performs at a high level in everything he does. He challenges me in new ways, so I have a really good teammate. And we're looking forward to this six hours underwater together. Yep, that would be fun. A lot of prep work happens up front and it's preparing not only myself, making sure that I'm trained and ready to go to go do the mission, but also to make sure that everything is taken care of at home. When you have the support of your family and everyone's behind you, and you have the emotional support of the family unit behind you, you can do your job better because you can focus on that. I wouldn't do this if I didn't have the support of my family. I know the toll that my career had taken on the family prior to me being selected as an astronaut, and then the demands of being an astronaut are no different and greater in many respects. We've been married almost 20 years now, and she knew me when I was just a cadet, and she's seen me grow up and become an astronaut and now get ready to spend nine months away from the family. There's nobody that I could have done this without my wife, Stacy.