'Unfortunately it took the Columbia disaster to remind people of the thrill of space flight. Otherwise, it had become a bit too routine'

Thank you. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Hyderabad. This is quite a different capsule from the space shuttle that I used. It's just amazing to go to space.

• You took space walks on 195 days -- more than 22 hours altogether. That's a record for a woman astronaut.

That was the time when time flew past. The 195 days flew by, literally. We had so much to do. We were in the middle of the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) and that's why we had so many space walks. I was up there changing the temporary electrical and heating systems.

• I thought I'd come to that a little later. But you started this whole business of setting up a space station. I know you admire John Young. In the Apollo 16 mission, he walked on the moon and he inspired you. I believe you listened to him, and he always said that we can't carry on being a one-planet species and we need to fix that.

Exactly. The space station is just a stepping-stone. It's a laboratory, a collaborative work, in which people from countries across the world try to help understand what it is like to live in space for a long time. We can use that laboratory to help and develop materials and new flight control systems, for example, to see how you can go to the moon and, hopefully, on to Mars.

• It's also amazing how this country has had Rakesh Sharma and a space programme of its own. We had leaders whose ideas about using space fired people's imagination. It's you and Kalpana Chawla who made such a big difference.

I think I'm just continuing the legacy of Kalpana. She was an incredible person, an amazing friend, and I learnt quite a bit from her about life as well as about being an astronaut. She mentioned something to me, and to many people, that I will try to explain to the kids as part of my charter here in India -- our planet is one big place where people from all over the world live together. When you are up in space, you see the vastness of the universe and realise you are just one little piece.

... contd.