India, Jan. 27 -- Science and faith are often presented as opposites but you seem to integrate them beautifully in your life. You were carrying copies of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads with you when you went to space for your last mission. Your well-wishers were chanting the Hanuman Chalisa for your safe return. How do you feel about the role of faith in your life?

I would like to thank them for their kindness. I think that my approach to faith definitely comes from my parents. I grew up seeing them as two wonderful people who were different, religiously speaking, in terms of their practice, but they were able to accommodate each other.

Having a Catholic mother from Slovenia and a Hindu father from India really opened the doors fo...