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Marla from Idaho asks:
What is the most difficult part of being an astronaut?
 Col Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., USAF (Retired) answers:
Being an astronaut is not difficult. It is like any other job. You have to learn how to execute the requirements of your job. There is lots of studying to learn the technical aspects and how to do the things you will be required to do, but they are not hard. The physical aspects are not particularly challenging either. You have to train a lot, but for most parts, the training is fun. Actually, being an astronaut is the best job I ever had.
Steve from Mississippi asks:
What does it feel like to walk in space?
 Col Donald “Don” McMonagle, USAF (Retired) answers:
· Although I was trained to walk in space on Mission STS-39, there was no planned space walk. I would only have walked in space had there been something broken outside that needed to be repaired during a space walk. And since nothing broke, I did not walk in space. On my second mission, STS-54, I assisted Greg Harbaugh and Mario Runco in their spacewalks to test the ability to transport large objects from one place to another (like the objects transported to construct the International Space Station). They practiced moving each other around in their space suits, pretending that each of them was a 500 lb. mass battery that would have to be assembled with the station’s solar arrays. They described their spacewalks as "fantastic," with a great sense of freedom and an exceptional view of the whole Earth from 160 miles above. Mario even noted that while we flew over the southern Bahamas, he could see the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center some 600 miles away.
William from Washington asks:
What is the most difficult thing you have experienced in space orbit?
Col Donald “Don” McMonagle, USAF (Retired) answers:
The most difficult thing was performing a sequence of maneuvers during STS-39 that were necessary to control the SPAS spacecraft remotely (which we had deployed from the cargo bay) to take pictures of the Shuttle while we fired our Orbital Maneuvering Engines. We had to precisely calculate, load maneuvering and execute four maneuvering burns within five minutes while a portion of the crew controlled the satellite's altitude and data collection systems. The entire crew of seven was engaged in the process. We performed several of these sequences back to back and ended up calling the whole thing our “ballet” in space. The result was very unique data on the chemical signatures of rocket engine plumes that can be used by the military for acquisition and tracking of rockets.
Mike from Alabama asks:
What is the funniest thing you have experienced in space/orbit?
 MajGen Charles F. Bolden, USMC (Retired) answers:
Though it may not seem funny to all of you, on my second flight into space, STS-31, aboard the Shuttle Discovery, we were looking out the window and noticed a huge body of water that we thought was in the middle of the United States. When we called down to Mission Control in Houston to ask about it, we were reminded that because of our unusually high orbit (400 nautical miles) we were now able to look all the way into Canada from over the northern portions of South America and the body of water we were viewing was, in fact, the massive combinations of the Great Lakes. We all felt embarrassed because we had not recognized this, and the team in Mission Control had a good laugh on us.
Sam from Florida asks:
How does the Space Shuttle lift off?
 Dr. Guion S. “Guy” Bluford, Jr., Col USAF (Retired) answers:
Two solid rocket boosters and three rocket engines power the Space Shuttle. Each booster produces three million pounds of thrust each, and the three rocket engines on the tail of the Shuttle generate approximately 1-1/2 million pounds of thrust. The Shuttle rockets into space with over seven million pounds of thrust.
Denny from Michigan asks:
Why do you have to wear space suits, and are they comfortable?
 CAPT Winston Scott, USN (Retired) answers:
Astronauts have to wear space suits to remain alive. Without the space suits, we could not breathe in space. Also, the space suits keep astronauts from suffering the severe temperature swings that exist in space. Without the space suits, astronauts would either freeze or burn up from the extreme temperatures. The space suits are big, bulky and quite uncomfortable! They weigh 300-350 pound each on Earth.
Mary from Texas asks:
During your space flight, did you ever think that you would not return to Earth?
Col Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., USAF (Retired) answers:
Yes, for a short time on STS-9, after two of our General Purpose Computers failed, I thought there was a chance that we might not get back. I thought about what I had done to provide for my family and assured myself that they would be all right without me, and then got on with trying to fix our problem.
Richard from Illinois asks:
Do astronauts make good money?
MajGen Charles F. Bolden, USMC (Retired) answers:
Astronauts make good money, but it is relative. The military astronauts (about half the astronaut office) continue to earn their normal military salaries, and the civilian astronauts are paid on the standard civil service (GS) pay scale. Salaries don’t begin to compare with celebrities and professional athletes, but they have grown to be somewhat equivalent to those of people in the normal business world as middle managers ($70,000 - $120,000).
Ricardo from California asks:
What kind of experiments did you perform during your space flight?
Col Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., USAF (Retired) answers:
On STS-9, Spacelab 1, we did 77 different scientific investigations covering almost every interest. These included astronomy, biology, life sciences, material sciences, chemistry, physics, astrophysics, etc. On STS-61B we did electrophoresis and space construction experiments. STS-28 was a classified mission.
Nancy from New York asks:
Do you think there is some form of life on Mars, currently or in the past?
 Col James Buchli answers:
Currently there is no evidence that any life exists on Mars: however, since our current levels of exploration are superficial, there may indeed be some type of life on Mars. Again, we will know more about the past on Mars once we get there. The very real possibility of some type of life on Mars makes the exploration of the planet even more exciting.
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