There is no question there's a lot of competition among astronauts!

But sometimes, being patient has huge rewards!

Shannon Lucid was the least glamorous of the first 6 american women astronauts; she was the last woman of her selection to fly (selected in 1978, flew STS 51 G in 1985). While her colleagues left NASA, she kept flying...and in 1996, (while most american astronauts would not dare spend 4 months aboard Mir speaking russian), she rode the shuttle, spent 6 instead of 4 months aboard Mir with 2 Yuri's with whom she got along very well (the delays were Shuttle problems) and of all the astronauts who had been aboard Mir, she got the most out of it...and today, still serves as capcom!