Join us on Tuesday, March 5, as we honor our latest astronaut candidates on the completion of their training. Ten NASA candidates and two candidates from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will earn their wings in a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Center, becoming eligible for future assignments to the International Space Station, the Moon—and, eventually, missions to Mars.
After the graduation ceremony, the astronauts will take questions from media and the public starting at 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 UTC).
Learn more about our newest class of Artemis astronauts: https://go.nasa.gov/3Uz8QrC
Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí: https://go.nasa.gov/3I4yxsC
Thumbnail credit: NASA
After the graduation ceremony, the astronauts will take questions from media and the public starting at 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 UTC).
Learn more about our newest class of Artemis astronauts: https://go.nasa.gov/3Uz8QrC
Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí: https://go.nasa.gov/3I4yxsC
Thumbnail credit: NASA
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00:00 of talents and experience.
00:00:02 This is our next generation of trailblazers.
00:00:10 Their road to our next giant leap starts today.
00:00:22 From the Hawaiian Space Program.
00:00:24 From NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston,
00:00:33 Norm Knight and Shannon Walker.
00:00:35 Good morning and welcome to NASA's Johnson Space Center
00:00:51 for our astronaut candidate graduation.
00:00:54 I'm Norm Knight, Director of Flight Operations.
00:00:58 And I'm Shannon Walker, Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office.
00:01:02 Another title that I've had over the last two years
00:01:05 that is arguably equally important is class supervisor,
00:01:09 known to some as class mom.
00:01:12 So let's welcome them to the room.
00:01:13 What do you say?
00:01:15 Yeah.
00:01:15 [APPLAUSE]
00:01:17 All right, please welcome NASA's 23rd astronaut class.
00:01:22 [APPLAUSE]
00:01:46 All right.
00:01:49 Great round of applause.
00:01:51 Fantastic.
00:01:52 How about another one while they take their seats?
00:01:54 [APPLAUSE]
00:01:57 This is a very exciting day for all of us here, for our nation,
00:02:07 and for all humanity.
00:02:09 Together, we honor our newest class of astronauts,
00:02:12 10 American men and women from NASA,
00:02:15 and two United Arab Emirates candidates from the Mohammed bin
00:02:19 Rashid Space Center, who will graduate their basic training
00:02:23 and will earn their wings to join the Active Astronaut Corps.
00:02:27 It's been two years of rigorous training and testing,
00:02:30 and it all culminates today.
00:02:34 You will see throughout the program today
00:02:37 that the breadth and depth of experience
00:02:39 that this class brings to our space program
00:02:41 is nothing short of amazing.
00:02:44 This class is made up of engineers, scientists, a doctor,
00:02:49 helicopter pilots, and jet pilots.
00:02:52 We have both military and civilian backgrounds.
00:02:56 Behind these blue flight suits, there
00:02:58 are also parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles,
00:03:03 friends.
00:03:05 They have interests and hobbies, just like you and me.
00:03:08 Among many things, this class has athletes, explorers,
00:03:12 volunteers, and some even claim to be good cooks.
00:03:16 This class does have unique and special talents
00:03:21 that they bring to NASA.
00:03:23 And in fact, we believe that everyone
00:03:25 has a special talent that they can
00:03:27 bring to our astronaut corps.
00:03:29 And that is why we are so excited to announce that we
00:03:32 are taking applications again, and we
00:03:34 would love to add your talents to our team.
00:03:37 If you think you have what it takes,
00:03:39 applications for our next class of astronauts
00:03:41 is now live and open.
00:03:43 And for those watching at home, you
00:03:45 can scan the QR code and apply.
00:03:49 Now that we've done a bit of housekeeping,
00:03:52 it's time to celebrate our newest class of astronauts.
00:03:55 And to help us kick it off, please
00:03:57 give a warm Houston welcome to Johnson Space Center
00:04:00 Director Vanessa Weisch.
00:04:02 [APPLAUSE]
00:04:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04:09 Good morning.
00:04:21 For more than 60 years, NASA's Johnson Space Center
00:04:25 has led the world in human space exploration.
00:04:29 Johnson has served as the home of America's astronaut
00:04:32 corps, International Space Station, mission operations,
00:04:36 the Orion and Gateway programs, and a host
00:04:40 of future space developments.
00:04:42 Today, we're operating more human spacecraft
00:04:45 than ever before.
00:04:47 Last year, we celebrated 25 years of successful operations
00:04:53 and 23 years of continuous human presence
00:04:57 aboard the International Space Station
00:04:59 to test technologies, conduct scientific research,
00:05:03 and develop skills needed to explore deep space.
00:05:07 We recently launched our eighth rotational mission
00:05:11 with SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
00:05:14 And just this morning, they docked and engrossed
00:05:17 to the International Space Station.
00:05:19 Yes.
00:05:19 [APPLAUSE]
00:05:27 And we're also looking forward to the upcoming crewed flight
00:05:31 tests of a Boeing Starliner and Orion.
00:05:35 Our astronaut corps puts the human in human spaceflight.
00:05:40 And I'm so excited and proud of these 10 NASA astronauts
00:05:45 and two UAE astronauts affectionately known as FLYS.
00:05:50 As they have completed their training
00:05:53 and will now be eligible for flight assignments to the space
00:05:56 station, the moon under the Artemis program, and Mars.
00:06:01 But first, we're honored to be joined by some special guests.
00:06:05 Please join me in welcoming NASA leadership,
00:06:10 Associate Administrator Jim Free,
00:06:19 Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swales,
00:06:28 and many of our NASA leaders from headquarters and centers
00:06:31 from all across our agency.
00:06:33 I'd like to also welcome staff representing
00:06:42 Congressman Brian Babin, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson
00:06:46 Lee, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia,
00:06:49 and Congressman Dan Crenshaw.
00:06:51 Thank you for joining us.
00:06:52 And in person, we have Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner
00:07:03 Adrian Garcia and Councilman Fred Flickinger.
00:07:15 Thank you for your support.
00:07:17 We're also pleased to be joined by the international community.
00:07:20 With us today, we have representatives
00:07:23 from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center.
00:07:26 Please wave.
00:07:27 And Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
00:07:35 Please wave.
00:07:36 Through our international partnerships under Artemis,
00:07:43 we're building a global alliance.
00:07:46 Artemis is the most diverse international space exploration
00:07:49 coalition in history, with 36 countries having
00:07:53 signed the Artemis Accords.
00:07:55 And we look forward to further collaboration together
00:07:58 as we explore deep space for the benefit of all.
00:08:02 Today is a big day.
00:08:04 And much like space, I'm sure the journey
00:08:07 was challenging at times.
00:08:09 Each one of you have unique experiences
00:08:12 that led you to NASA.
00:08:13 But you all have one commonality--
00:08:16 the pursuit of exploration.
00:08:19 Two years ago, these astronaut candidates
00:08:22 submitted their outstanding resumes,
00:08:24 were selected from a pool of 12,000 applicants,
00:08:27 relocated their families, and began calling Houston home.
00:08:32 To the families, friends, and mentors
00:08:35 who have supported today's graduates, we thank you.
00:08:38 And to the students with us today, from LaPorte ISD,
00:08:43 Clear Creek ISD, and our high school aerospace scholars,
00:08:48 and those watching, know that these astronauts were once
00:08:52 just like you, full of curiosity and dreams.
00:08:56 You are the future explorers, scientists, engineers,
00:09:00 inventors, and mathematicians of the Artemis generation.
00:09:05 Your potential is endless.
00:09:07 You, too, can push the boundaries of what's possible.
00:09:11 We all here are anticipating your notable contributions
00:09:15 to our missions.
00:09:17 Congratulations to our 12 newest astronauts.
00:09:20 I look forward to all that you will accomplish
00:09:22 in witnessing your giant leaps as we venture to the moon
00:09:26 and then onward to Mars.
00:09:28 [APPLAUSE]
00:09:32 Thank you, Vanessa.
00:09:37 And thank you for all the work you
00:09:38 do in leading the teams here at the Johnson Space Center.
00:09:41 A little more than two years ago,
00:09:43 we brought these 12 individuals to JSC
00:09:46 to embark on this new chapter of their lives
00:09:48 called space exploration.
00:09:51 I have no doubt that they can all vividly recall the day
00:09:54 that they applied, the interviews that followed,
00:09:57 and the day they received that life-changing phone
00:10:00 call from a Houston, Texas area code
00:10:02 to tell them that they were selected by NASA
00:10:05 to become an astronaut.
00:10:07 They moved here from various parts
00:10:09 of the world and the country and jumped right into training.
00:10:13 The astronaut candidate training program
00:10:15 is demanding and very broad in material.
00:10:18 Over the course of what we call spaceflight readiness
00:10:21 training, this group has learned how to fly in the T-38 jet.
00:10:25 They've learned spacewalking skills in our underwater neutral
00:10:29 buoyancy lab right up the road.
00:10:31 They've learned about the International Space Station,
00:10:34 which is the foundation it is setting
00:10:36 for deep space exploration.
00:10:39 They've studied the building blocks for Artemis,
00:10:41 the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System launch vehicle,
00:10:45 and our future lunar outpost, the Gateway.
00:10:49 They've completed wilderness and water survival training
00:10:52 as a team.
00:10:53 Throughout it all, I have seen them dig in and pull together
00:10:56 and work through issues of all kinds.
00:10:59 This skill, teamwork, is the most critical skill
00:11:04 in human spaceflight and in life.
00:11:07 When we come together, there are no limits
00:11:09 to what we can accomplish.
00:11:11 Teamwork is what's going to take us back to the moon and beyond.
00:11:17 Today is especially exciting for me,
00:11:19 because over the last two years, I
00:11:21 have had the opportunity to see each and every talent
00:11:24 that these 12 candidates have to offer.
00:11:26 And now they get to share their talents
00:11:28 with this agency and the world.
00:11:33 They are competent.
00:11:34 They are hardworking.
00:11:36 They are fun and overall exceptional human beings.
00:11:39 Once you're accepted as an astronaut candidate,
00:11:47 that's when the astronaut training begins.
00:11:50 Astronaut training is, I would say, challenging but fun.
00:11:55 It's been a growing experience.
00:11:57 It's intense.
00:11:58 It's dynamic.
00:11:59 And it's very rewarding.
00:12:01 One day, you might be in class studying space station systems.
00:12:04 The next day, you might be flying in a T-38 jet
00:12:08 doing a training flight.
00:12:09 And then the day after that, you might be underwater in a space
00:12:12 suit doing a practice EVA.
00:12:14 I think my favorite part was actually the spacewalk part.
00:12:17 You're in the pool.
00:12:18 And it's also the most challenging.
00:12:20 I love the feeling of being pressurized in the suit
00:12:22 and submerging underwater and moving
00:12:25 in a space-like environment in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab,
00:12:27 this giant pool we have where we have a mock-up
00:12:30 of the International Space Station.
00:12:32 And we practice spacewalks and maintenance.
00:12:34 You're just riding this high the whole time
00:12:36 that you're in a space suit and you're in the pool.
00:12:38 It's really just a great day.
00:12:41 The most fun part of astronaut training for me
00:12:44 was learning how to fly a jet.
00:12:46 Flying a T-38, it's fun because it's an adventure.
00:12:49 It's really weather-based.
00:12:50 So you're working through problems.
00:12:52 You're trying to plan for fuel.
00:12:53 You're trying to plan for logistics.
00:12:56 Going that fast in a vehicle was exhilarating.
00:13:02 The fun part of training was being in the wilderness.
00:13:05 It's so amazing.
00:13:06 It's a new experience for me.
00:13:08 Coming from diverse backgrounds and being
00:13:10 immersed right into a survival training event right out
00:13:13 of the gate in the cold and the wet,
00:13:15 just challenges that we had to support each other through.
00:13:18 And that happens throughout the flows.
00:13:20 Interesting weather.
00:13:22 It could be very cold, rainy.
00:13:24 Interesting terrain you have to overcome.
00:13:26 Some of the geology trips were actually quite hot.
00:13:30 But ultimately, getting to camp together,
00:13:32 spend that time together, tell each other's stories,
00:13:34 and get to know each other better
00:13:36 has just been very rewarding.
00:13:38 Training together as a class has helped
00:13:40 us build relationships with each other, which is extremely
00:13:43 important in spaceflight.
00:13:45 Because once you go up to space, the people you travel with
00:13:48 are your family.
00:13:49 They are your support system.
00:13:52 Not only have I spent these two years learning from classes
00:13:56 taught by amazing instructors across NASA,
00:13:59 but I've also had the opportunity
00:14:01 to learn from astronauts that have flown to space before,
00:14:04 flight directors and engineers that have
00:14:06 flown many people to space.
00:14:07 So it's a community of knowledge.
00:14:09 We have a robust training program here.
00:14:11 I've got confidence in that system.
00:14:13 I've got confidence in the team that's going to prepare us to go.
00:14:15 So I think the day that I get to strap in a rocket,
00:14:18 I'm going to be excited.
00:14:19 I'm going to be ready.
00:14:19 And I can't wait for that moment.
00:14:22 I feel honored and humbled to be a part of humanity's
00:14:26 spacefaring years.
00:14:27 I think exploration is one of humanity's most noble pursuits,
00:14:31 the creativity, the discovery, the innovation.
00:14:34 And I feel a deep responsibility to be
00:14:37 a link in the chain of explorers that
00:14:38 have come before me to help push human knowledge,
00:14:42 human experience, and challenge our beliefs of what
00:14:45 we thought was possible.
00:14:48 [APPLAUSE]
00:14:52 We have two astronauts here with us today
00:14:58 who sat on this very stage in those seats four years ago
00:15:01 and received their astronaut pins just like you will today.
00:15:06 Since then, they have both traveled
00:15:08 to the International Space Station
00:15:10 on different spacecraft.
00:15:11 They have broken barriers and set new records.
00:15:14 Please welcome NASA astronauts Frank Rubio and Jessica
00:15:17 Watkins.
00:15:18 [APPLAUSE]
00:15:21 Thank you, Shannon.
00:15:34 And congratulations, FLYS.
00:15:35 We are so excited to be here celebrating you today.
00:15:38 We know that you've worked hard to get here.
00:15:40 But we also know that you know that there's still
00:15:43 a lot of work left.
00:15:44 But we know that you're up to the task.
00:15:47 And you guys are going to continue to crush it.
00:15:49 Keep up the great work.
00:15:49 I couldn't agree more.
00:15:55 And you all really couldn't be graduating at a better time.
00:15:58 As Director Weiss pointed out, we
00:16:00 have more ways to get to low Earth orbit than ever before.
00:16:03 In addition to Soyuz, we've already
00:16:05 had SpaceX Crew Dragon safely carry
00:16:07 nine crews and 34 NASA and international partner
00:16:11 astronauts to the International Space Station
00:16:14 in the past four years.
00:16:16 And once Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams
00:16:19 complete the Boeing crewed flight test this spring,
00:16:22 we'll officially add Starliner to our fleet.
00:16:25 We cheer our colleagues on.
00:16:27 And we cheer our commercial partners on.
00:16:29 Our success goes hand in hand with their success.
00:16:31 FLYS, you are already part of the astronaut family.
00:16:38 And now we look forward to flying and exploring space
00:16:42 together with you.
00:16:43 You bring such a diverse and amazing set
00:16:46 of skills, experiences, and personalities.
00:16:49 You make us a better core.
00:16:52 Together, we will continue to proudly represent
00:16:54 NASA and our partner agencies as we go further and more
00:16:58 permanently into our solar system.
00:16:59 Before we go, we have a very special guest
00:17:05 who couldn't be here today, astronaut Laurel O'Hara.
00:17:09 The reason she couldn't be here today
00:17:10 is because she happens to be living and working
00:17:12 260 miles above our planet aboard the International Space
00:17:16 Station.
00:17:16 And she wanted to send a special message.
00:17:18 Greetings, FLYS, from the International Space Station.
00:17:25 And congratulations to all of you on your graduation.
00:17:28 I'm sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you today.
00:17:31 But as you know, we've been pretty busy up here
00:17:34 conducting science, spacewalks, and station upgrades,
00:17:38 making sure the station is ready for you
00:17:40 when it's your time to fly.
00:17:43 I know the training to get to where you are today
00:17:45 was not easy.
00:17:46 So don't forget to take a moment to be proud of yourselves
00:17:49 and how far you've come, both as individuals and as a class.
00:17:54 I can tell you one thing is for sure.
00:17:56 The International Space Station is well worth the wait.
00:17:59 And who knows?
00:18:01 Some of you may even go farther, to the moon and even to Mars.
00:18:05 You are inspiring a new generation of space explorers.
00:18:08 And I can't wait to see the things you accomplish
00:18:10 on and off planet Earth.
00:18:14 You were selected by NASA because
00:18:15 of your natural curiosity and passion for exploration.
00:18:18 Never let that fade.
00:18:20 Even though your ASCEND training has ended,
00:18:22 stay sharp on your studies and continue
00:18:24 to push yourself and your teammates to new heights.
00:18:27 And remember, your veteran astronaut colleagues
00:18:29 are always here to help.
00:18:31 I'm so proud of you.
00:18:32 And I can't wait to tell you in person
00:18:34 and give you all big hugs when I return to Earth.
00:18:37 Again, congratulations.
00:18:39 Thank you, Laurel.
00:18:51 And we really can't wait to welcome you
00:18:53 home in just a few weeks.
00:18:55 You know, it's one of the agency's busiest seasons
00:18:58 yet aboard the International Space Station,
00:19:00 with vehicles and crews coming and going.
00:19:03 On Sunday, we successfully launched
00:19:05 Crew 8 to the International Space Station.
00:19:07 And next week, we will welcome Crew 7 home.
00:19:11 Just about two weeks from now, NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson
00:19:14 will launch on a Soyuz spacecraft to the station.
00:19:17 And then about a week later, NASA astronaut Laurel O'Hara
00:19:21 will return home from her six-month stay.
00:19:24 And the busy season doesn't stop there.
00:19:26 In a couple of months, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore
00:19:30 and Sonny Williams will be the first humans
00:19:32 to launch aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft,
00:19:36 a critical test flight that will further enable crew rotation
00:19:40 to our orbiting laboratory.
00:19:42 All that to say, it's a busy and exciting time
00:19:46 in human spaceflight.
00:19:47 And we can't wait to have this class in the mix of it all.
00:19:51 For more than 23 years, the International Space Station
00:19:54 has served as a hub for scientific research
00:19:57 and technology demonstration.
00:19:59 What we've learned there and what we continue to learn
00:20:02 is what's helping us to travel deeper into space,
00:20:05 paving the road for future long-duration trips
00:20:08 to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
00:20:12 I'm sure you've heard, but we have another pretty big mission
00:20:16 coming up.
00:20:17 And we have the commander here to tell you more about it.
00:20:20 Please help me welcome the Artemis II commander,
00:20:22 Reid Weissman.
00:20:23 [APPLAUSE]
00:20:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:20:31 I got to find my crew out there just so I have my safety net.
00:20:43 All right, excellent.
00:20:45 So, wow, what a great day.
00:20:47 So much energy, so much adrenaline.
00:20:50 What is the Artemis generation?
00:20:54 In my opinion, it's you.
00:20:56 It's me.
00:20:57 It's Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams
00:21:00 as they head out on Boeing's first flight
00:21:01 to the International Space Station.
00:21:04 It's Matt, Mike, Jeanette, and Sasha,
00:21:07 who docked just this morning.
00:21:10 It's Tracy, it's Laurel, it's Jasmine, and it's Andy.
00:21:14 It's my dad up in Baltimore sitting on his couch,
00:21:16 probably watching this right now.
00:21:18 It's our school teachers.
00:21:20 It's all you students up there in the crowd.
00:21:22 It's our NASA interns.
00:21:24 It's our police officers.
00:21:26 It's a young lady in second grade in France
00:21:31 who is learning her first math problems.
00:21:34 The Artemis generation is all of us, all of us on planet Earth,
00:21:38 coming together to explore our solar system.
00:21:43 Oh, flies.
00:21:44 It's an honor to be standing here with you today
00:21:46 as we celebrate our 23rd class of NASA astronauts.
00:21:50 This class in particular is near and dear to my heart.
00:21:53 Marcos, Vapor, Radio, Ranger, Stretch, C-Dub, Jess, Denise,
00:22:00 Andre, Luke, Nora, and Muhammad, I'm
00:22:03 so proud of the work you have done.
00:22:05 And I'm excited to watch as you begin your careers
00:22:08 and chart your path in our astronaut office.
00:22:12 In about a year and a half, I'll launch
00:22:14 with three of the finest astronauts
00:22:16 I know, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen.
00:22:20 Together, we'll launch on a mission around the moon,
00:22:24 the first crewed lunar mission of our Artemis generation.
00:22:29 The foundation that our agency is laying during Artemis II,
00:22:33 together with industry and our international partners,
00:22:37 this sets the stage for what our astronaut corps will do next.
00:22:41 For those in the crowd, look around you.
00:22:44 Look at the astronauts on this stage.
00:22:46 Look at the astronauts in the crowd.
00:22:48 We are the ones entrusted by our nations
00:22:50 to further critical research on the International Space
00:22:53 Station.
00:22:54 We will venture 250,000 miles and dock with the Gateway.
00:22:59 And we will cheer as some of us, hopefully
00:23:02 some of these men and women you see on stage,
00:23:04 set their footprints on the moon and guide us
00:23:07 in our shared vision for one day exploring Mars.
00:23:11 To U-12, you will set records.
00:23:14 But the best part is you'll watch your friends break them.
00:23:18 You will shape the future of this office.
00:23:21 And you will contribute to our space program
00:23:23 simply by being yourselves.
00:23:25 Because you know how deeply I feel about that.
00:23:27 We hired you for you.
00:23:30 My final comment is to say what I
00:23:32 said when we shared the stage two years ago when we first
00:23:34 announced the selection of your class.
00:23:36 I would love it if you would look into the audience.
00:23:39 I know the lights are bright.
00:23:40 But find those who came here to support you today.
00:23:43 Find your parents.
00:23:43 Find your friends.
00:23:44 Find your family, your brothers and sisters.
00:23:46 And thank them.
00:23:47 Wave to them.
00:23:48 Because when it is all said and done,
00:23:50 you will need those people more than any other in your life,
00:23:53 your family and friends.
00:23:54 [LAUGHTER]
00:23:56 [APPLAUSE]
00:24:00 All right, it's time for me to hand the microphone over
00:24:11 to Dr. Harrison Schmidt.
00:24:14 For those of you who know Dr. Schmidt,
00:24:16 or as we affectionately call him, Jack, you know--
00:24:19 I'm looking at him right now-- you
00:24:20 know a man of intelligence.
00:24:24 You know a man of kindness.
00:24:26 And most of all, a man of absolute humble service
00:24:30 to human spaceflight.
00:24:32 The Artemis generation, every one of us here today,
00:24:35 everyone watching this on TV, we stand
00:24:38 on the shoulder of giants.
00:24:40 And there are none larger than Apollo 17 astronaut, geologist,
00:24:45 Dr. Harrison Schmidt.
00:24:48 [APPLAUSE]
00:25:13 Well, as some of you may be aware,
00:25:18 one of the traditions of me talking a little bit in public
00:25:24 is to provide some moon balls.
00:25:27 [LAUGHTER]
00:25:30 [APPLAUSE]
00:25:34 [CHEERING]
00:25:38 Now, with that out of the way--
00:25:45 [LAUGHTER]
00:25:48 My wife, by the way, gang, sends her regards.
00:25:54 It was great to have you there a couple years ago.
00:25:56 Really, a lot of fun.
00:25:57 We entertained them at a winery, but they don't
00:25:59 talk about that very much.
00:26:00 [LAUGHTER]
00:26:04 Congratulations, gang.
00:26:07 Unbelievable.
00:26:09 Almost 60 years since Group 4, which I was part of,
00:26:14 stood on this stage.
00:26:16 Or I guess we sat on this stage.
00:26:20 And had we known what Group 23 was going to be like,
00:26:26 we probably never would have volunteered.
00:26:29 It would have been a waste of time.
00:26:31 Today, one of the major milestones
00:26:38 has been reached by this group of people, outstanding people.
00:26:44 It's on the way to a flight assignment.
00:26:46 And as I understand from this morning,
00:26:48 a few assignments have already been made.
00:26:52 There are many more opportunities today
00:26:57 than there were in the '60s and '70s for activities in space.
00:27:04 Back then, only piloting was the real category.
00:27:08 In 1965, the move was made-- actually '64--
00:27:18 the move was made to bring some scientists, including
00:27:23 a physician, into the program.
00:27:26 But we all ended up being T-38 pilots, which was really great.
00:27:31 There are openings for many other professionals
00:27:36 now in the program.
00:27:40 And I still believe, however, that assimilating
00:27:43 the discipline of flying jet aircraft
00:27:46 is an essential foundation to human spaceflight
00:27:49 and will be for years and possibly decades to come.
00:27:54 That discipline is extraordinarily important.
00:27:57 As Deke Slayton told Congress many, many times
00:28:00 when they were trying to eliminate
00:28:02 T-38s from the budget, it's our only psychological trainer.
00:28:08 If you get in trouble in a T-38, you've
00:28:09 got to take care of it yourself.
00:28:12 You get in trouble in a simulator,
00:28:14 you press a button, reset, ask the guys down at the console,
00:28:19 let's try it again.
00:28:21 You can't do that in a jet.
00:28:24 Now today, the moon is calling us again for more reasons
00:28:30 than in the past.
00:28:32 Although Cold War II has started, in my opinion,
00:28:38 and that is a national imperative
00:28:40 that we respond to the challenges that
00:28:43 are coming down.
00:28:45 Space science, lunar science in particular,
00:28:48 is certainly a very important part of the future.
00:28:53 And more so than in the past, biomedical science
00:28:57 has become important.
00:28:58 For example, if this group finds that they adapt fully
00:29:03 to 1/6 gravity, then that solves a number
00:29:07 of the issues, operational issues,
00:29:09 of going to Mars over a long period of time,
00:29:14 where 3/8 gravity means that you're going to adapt.
00:29:18 That's important information to have.
00:29:19 We don't have it right now.
00:29:21 But if you ask me, I think they will adapt to lunar gravity.
00:29:26 I felt like I was adapting.
00:29:29 But still, it's something we need to verify.
00:29:31 And of course, for those of us involved
00:29:37 in thinking about lunar resources,
00:29:39 we need an international, recognized international,
00:29:45 if not just free world regime for dealing
00:29:53 with lunar resources in order to avoid future conflicts.
00:29:58 There are commercial interests as well,
00:30:00 in addition to the national interests.
00:30:03 Resources are driving those commercial interests primarily.
00:30:10 Settlement is on the horizon.
00:30:13 Can you imagine sometime in the future,
00:30:17 group of settlers on the moon saying
00:30:19 we're tired of taxation without representation?
00:30:24 Jefferson's little revolution may occur.
00:30:26 The moon, of course, is a stepping stone,
00:30:31 the second stepping stone, Earth being the first,
00:30:35 to Mars and beyond.
00:30:38 Human evolution in the universe has begun.
00:30:42 I tried to make this point as we left the moon in 1972.
00:30:47 But I think it's still extraordinarily valid.
00:30:50 Human beings are moving into space.
00:30:54 As part of the Artemis generation, all of you
00:30:58 will participate in what I would call the sixth major miracle
00:31:02 in human history.
00:31:04 There have been many small steps between each of these steps,
00:31:09 each of these miracles.
00:31:12 14 billion years ago, approximately,
00:31:16 fundamental particles and energy were
00:31:18 created that led to what we see around us today.
00:31:23 And from a fundamental physics point of view,
00:31:25 if not a personal point of view, from a fundamental physics
00:31:29 point of view, there appear to have been no mistakes
00:31:32 in the creation of those particles and energy.
00:31:38 One million years ago, humans realized
00:31:41 that control over fire would improve their lives.
00:31:46 Well, it's control over fire that's
00:31:48 going to take these folks into space.
00:31:51 So there's a long chain there.
00:31:55 Three to maybe 4,000 years ago, the basic rules
00:31:59 for a stable democratic society, based on free will,
00:32:03 were codified.
00:32:06 2,200 years ago, these rules began
00:32:10 to spread through the inspiration
00:32:12 of a single remarkable human being.
00:32:15 200 years ago, the Constitution of the United States
00:32:19 provided a blueprint for what a stable democratic society could
00:32:24 be as imagined 4,000 years earlier.
00:32:30 And 6, 55 years ago, humans began the journey away
00:32:36 from the Earth into the universe.
00:32:40 Now, will the seventh major miracle
00:32:42 be the birth of the first Martian?
00:32:45 Watch it, guys.
00:32:45 So I guess you see where you are in this broad sequence
00:32:52 of miracles.
00:32:55 Thank you for this opportunity to be with you,
00:32:57 and particularly, thank you for your friendship
00:33:00 and your dedication to what we're trying to do here today.
00:33:06 Good luck, but you know better than to depend on it.
00:33:12 Hard work, dedication, and freedom
00:33:16 have brought you this far.
00:33:18 Let's stick with it.
00:33:20 Thank you very much.
00:33:21 [APPLAUSE]
00:33:24 [APPLAUSE]
00:33:28 Thank you.
00:33:36 Thank you for those words, Jack.
00:33:38 The work that you and your fellow astronauts did for NASA
00:33:41 and our country forever changed the world
00:33:44 and paved the way for these astronaut graduates.
00:33:47 Next up, we have someone who is no stranger to big challenges.
00:33:51 He was at the helm of NASA's Exploration Systems Development
00:33:55 Mission Directorate for Artemis I,
00:33:57 a successful uncrewed test flight and critical milestone
00:34:01 that proved that we are, once again,
00:34:04 ready to return to the moon and look beyond.
00:34:07 He is responsible for developing NASA's moon to Mars
00:34:10 architecture and planning for NASA's deep space exploration
00:34:14 approach.
00:34:16 He now serves as senior advisor to Administrator Bill Nelson
00:34:20 and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.
00:34:22 Please give a warm welcome to NASA's Associate Administrator
00:34:26 Jim Free.
00:34:27 [APPLAUSE]
00:34:31 All right, thanks, Norm.
00:34:39 Good morning.
00:34:39 Good morning.
00:34:40 Everybody ready to go?
00:34:42 All right.
00:34:44 Let's see, first I was working on my application
00:34:46 in the audience.
00:34:48 So I have 12 references now.
00:34:50 I feel really good about that.
00:34:53 So good morning again on behalf of the Administrator Bill
00:34:56 Nelson, the Deputy Administrator, Colonel Pam
00:34:59 Melroy.
00:34:59 Welcome to this incredible day.
00:35:02 Thank you for joining us to celebrate these 12 folks,
00:35:06 not just what they represent as individuals,
00:35:09 but what we have as a nation and for all humanity.
00:35:14 It's significant that we graduate not just NASA
00:35:16 astronauts, but also international partner
00:35:19 astronauts from the UAE.
00:35:21 International collaboration is what
00:35:23 has made our space station mission successful
00:35:26 and will make our Artemis missions to the moon
00:35:29 successful as well.
00:35:31 We do a lot of cool things at NASA.
00:35:33 And this event combines two of my favorite things,
00:35:36 phenomenal people and celebrating success.
00:35:41 A little more than two years ago,
00:35:42 we introduced these astronaut candidates to the world
00:35:45 at their selection.
00:35:47 Today, we get to celebrate your successful completion
00:35:50 of two years of rigorous training to become astronauts.
00:35:53 This recognition of your achievement
00:35:55 truly is commencement.
00:35:57 This day, Tuesday, March 5, 2024,
00:36:00 is the day you become NASA astronauts and UAE astronauts.
00:36:05 Congratulations.
00:36:06 You did it.
00:36:07 You got here.
00:36:09 For many of you, becoming an astronaut
00:36:11 is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
00:36:14 I realize the dream was probably more
00:36:16 about reaching orbit and floating in space,
00:36:19 but you'll get there soon.
00:36:22 You are here because you are exceptional.
00:36:25 You are here because you are unique
00:36:27 and you bring something special to the table as individuals
00:36:31 and as a team.
00:36:33 Who you are is why you're here today.
00:36:37 We train you to the standard of what a NASA astronaut should
00:36:40 be.
00:36:41 That matters because when you wear that blue flight suit,
00:36:44 you become NASA to the world.
00:36:47 People who see you in your blue flight suit
00:36:49 may not know you by name, but they know who you are.
00:36:54 They know who you are because you are NASA.
00:36:58 I want you to remember that each time you put on that flight
00:37:00 suit, you represent all of us across the agency.
00:37:05 We are grateful for you.
00:37:07 We are lifting you up every day.
00:37:10 That's what you should take with you in every interaction
00:37:13 you have as an astronaut.
00:37:16 As the associate administrator, I
00:37:17 want you to know that our commitment, my commitment to you
00:37:21 and your loved ones here today and online
00:37:25 is to ensure you fly safely.
00:37:28 As you know well by now, NASA has core values
00:37:33 and safety is utmost of those.
00:37:35 Along with those is integrity, teamwork, excellence,
00:37:39 and inclusion.
00:37:41 We ask you to sit on the pointy end of a rocket
00:37:43 and risk your life to advance our nation's goal
00:37:46 to explore the unknown.
00:37:48 I know that you do it willingly more than willingly, frankly,
00:37:52 eagerly.
00:37:53 I was just at the Crew 8 flight readiness review last week,
00:37:57 and your colleague and Crew 8 flight commander Matt Dominick
00:38:00 reminded us that everything we do in space flight
00:38:03 is held together by trust.
00:38:06 You are trusting us with your whole life,
00:38:08 with who you are, and we don't take your commitment lightly.
00:38:12 Your safety is our number one priority.
00:38:15 I know Frank didn't expect to spend more than a year
00:38:17 in space.
00:38:18 We kept him in space because we determined
00:38:20 that it was safer than bringing him home
00:38:23 in a compromised spacecraft.
00:38:26 Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy,
00:38:29 you know we delayed their mission to the moon
00:38:31 until September of 2025, and we did that for their safety.
00:38:37 At NASA, we do hazardous things every day, not just
00:38:40 on launch days.
00:38:41 I exhort you to prioritize your role
00:38:43 in your own safety and the safety of your co-workers
00:38:46 and teammates.
00:38:47 As an astronaut, you are now ready for a mission.
00:38:51 Your missions will change our understanding
00:38:53 of Earth and space.
00:38:55 Your career as a space explorer begins right here on Earth.
00:38:59 The work you do each day on the ground
00:39:00 prepares you for space and helps ensure your fellow astronauts
00:39:03 are safe also.
00:39:05 We count on you to apply yourself and learn
00:39:08 as diligently going forward from today
00:39:11 as you have done to reach this day over the past two years.
00:39:15 As a result, you go to space.
00:39:17 Your mission may be aboard the International Space Station,
00:39:20 or you may walk on the moon as part of the Artemis campaign.
00:39:24 You're entering the astronaut corps
00:39:25 at such an incredibly exciting time.
00:39:28 We have multiple missions and multiple spacecraft
00:39:30 in which you may fly, and you heard about some of those
00:39:33 earlier.
00:39:33 You may wear a space suit and fly to our lunar outpost
00:39:37 gateway for which the UAE is providing an airlock.
00:39:41 I do have one request.
00:39:43 Please take us with you.
00:39:46 Well, if you want to, sign up.
00:39:48 But take us with you in your heart.
00:39:51 Bring us along on your journey.
00:39:53 Share your story, the story of who
00:39:55 you are, the special people that each of you are.
00:39:58 And share that story of what you're doing,
00:40:01 and share the story of why it matters.
00:40:04 You represent humanity's shared goal to explore.
00:40:07 You embody the ideas we hold of who we can
00:40:10 be when we are at our best.
00:40:14 Let me congratulate you.
00:40:16 So let's get started.
00:40:18 Let me welcome to the stage our chief astronaut, Joe Acaba,
00:40:21 to pin our new astronauts.
00:40:23 [APPLAUSE]
00:40:26 Let me also ask Vanessa, Norm, and Shannon to come on out.
00:40:29 And we're also very honored to have
00:40:32 the director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, Salim
00:40:36 Alamiri, on the stage for the ceremony.
00:40:39 [APPLAUSE]
00:40:43 All right.
00:40:46 It's time to officially welcome our 2023 astronauts.
00:40:52 All right.
00:40:53 It's time to officially welcome our 2023 astronaut class.
00:40:57 All right.
00:41:01 Now for the moment we've all been waiting for.
00:41:04 I think it's time to add a few more to our astronaut core.
00:41:07 What do you say?
00:41:08 Yeah.
00:41:09 [APPLAUSE]
00:41:13 She holds a master's degree in computational and applied
00:41:19 mathematics.
00:41:20 She's an outdoor enthusiast, a major in the US Air Force,
00:41:23 and she led the first ever all-woman formation
00:41:26 of the F-22 in combat.
00:41:28 Nicole Ayers.
00:41:29 [APPLAUSE]
00:41:33 the past two years, we have been very fortunate to have you.
00:41:40 You've been a great support to us.
00:41:42 You've been a great support to our students.
00:41:44 You've been a great support to our faculty.
00:41:46 You've been a great support to our students.
00:41:48 You've been a great support to our faculty.
00:41:50 And you've been a great support to our students.
00:41:52 And you've been a great support to our faculty.
00:41:54 And you've been a great support to our students.
00:41:56 And you've been a great support to our faculty.
00:41:58 And you've been a great support to our students.
00:42:00 But over the past two years, she has shown off her courage,
00:42:05 which is grounded in her quiet strength.
00:42:07 Please welcome astronaut Nicole Ayers.
00:42:13 [APPLAUSE]
00:42:17 He's a test pilot who holds a master's degree
00:42:29 in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in aeronautics
00:42:32 and astronautics.
00:42:34 A major in the Air National Guard,
00:42:36 he's accumulated more than 110 combat missions
00:42:39 and 1,400 hours of flight time in more than 21
00:42:43 different aircraft.
00:42:44 Marcos Berrios.
00:42:46 [APPLAUSE]
00:42:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:42:53 Marcos and I were workout buddies our first year
00:43:04 here during our group workouts.
00:43:06 And it was always awesome because he really
00:43:09 pushed us to work harder, be better, and really get up
00:43:13 every morning, those early, early mornings.
00:43:16 Marcos is one of the most dedicated and motivated people
00:43:19 I know.
00:43:21 He's an excellent teammate.
00:43:22 [APPLAUSE]
00:43:24 Please welcome astronaut Marcos Berrios.
00:43:28 [APPLAUSE]
00:43:31 She holds degrees in mathematics and in biochemistry
00:43:37 and molecular biophysics, as well as a doctorate
00:43:41 in biological engineering.
00:43:42 She's a track cyclist on the US national team
00:43:45 and a long team member for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
00:43:49 Chris Birch.
00:43:50 [APPLAUSE]
00:43:53 When I first met Chris Birch, I warned her
00:44:06 that we were going to be great friends.
00:44:09 Every day since then, I've been in awe of the curiosity
00:44:13 she displays to learn just a little bit more
00:44:14 about everything.
00:44:16 I've been impressed by her constant desire
00:44:18 to find every obstacle, every challenge, and overcome that.
00:44:21 And I've been super impressed by her ability
00:44:23 to form incredible connections amongst our group.
00:44:26 I'm grateful for your leadership as our class leader.
00:44:28 Ever since the day, I'm grateful every day
00:44:30 that you make me a better person.
00:44:32 Please--
00:44:33 [APPLAUSE]
00:44:41 Please welcome astronaut Chris Birch.
00:44:44 [APPLAUSE]
00:44:48 A former intern at NASA's Ames Research Center,
00:44:55 she holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering
00:44:58 and a master's degree in mechanical engineering.
00:45:01 She's a licensed private pilot and a leader
00:45:03 in the energy industry, having managed drilling projects
00:45:06 on oil rigs for over a decade.
00:45:09 Denise Burnham.
00:45:10 [APPLAUSE]
00:45:13 Denise, she's the person who will bring joys to the team.
00:45:27 She'll make us laugh no matter what the situation is.
00:45:31 And I'll never forget our laughter, daily laughter,
00:45:34 in our survival training.
00:45:37 She's a wonderful person, great leader,
00:45:40 and a best friend.
00:45:41 [APPLAUSE]
00:45:45 So please welcome astronaut Denise Burnham.
00:45:49 [APPLAUSE]
00:45:52 He is a retired US Marine who holds a master's degree
00:45:58 in aerospace engineering.
00:46:00 He's a nature enthusiast, a pilot
00:46:02 who has logged more than 3,900 flight hours on 48
00:46:05 models of jet, propeller, and rotary wing aircraft.
00:46:09 Luke Delaney.
00:46:10 [APPLAUSE]
00:46:14 Luke, I prepared a song for you about how great you are.
00:46:26 But rest easy.
00:46:27 Today I'm only going to talk about what
00:46:29 makes you known as Mr. Reliable.
00:46:32 He puts 100% effort into everything he does,
00:46:35 and always with a positive attitude.
00:46:37 He's an awesome office mate, and he's an awesome teammate,
00:46:41 and a really great friend.
00:46:43 [APPLAUSE]
00:46:46 Please welcome astronaut Luke Delaney.
00:46:51 [APPLAUSE]
00:46:54 He holds a master's in naval architecture
00:47:01 and marine engineering, electrical and computer
00:47:03 engineering, and a doctorate in systems engineering.
00:47:07 He served in the United States Coast Guard
00:47:09 as a naval architect, salvage engineer, and damage control
00:47:13 assistant, including officer of the deck.
00:47:16 Andre Douglas.
00:47:17 [APPLAUSE]
00:47:30 I've been with Andre since brilliance,
00:47:33 from the first time we worked together
00:47:35 during astronaut selection.
00:47:36 And he is my go-to guy for complicated technical matters,
00:47:40 like orbital mechanics.
00:47:41 But what really impresses me about Andre
00:47:44 is the things you don't immediately see.
00:47:46 He spends his weekends with his family doing volunteer work,
00:47:50 and he supports the community, and he supports us
00:47:52 as a teammate.
00:47:53 He's the first guy that'll turn to us when you really need him.
00:47:56 He's kind of the glue that helps this swarm of flies
00:47:59 stick together.
00:48:01 [APPLAUSE]
00:48:06 So please welcome astronaut Andre Douglas.
00:48:09 [APPLAUSE]
00:48:12 He's a naval aviator who holds bachelor's degrees
00:48:18 in physics and history.
00:48:20 He has a master's in flight dynamics
00:48:22 and in national security and strategic studies.
00:48:25 He has more than 2,500 flight hours
00:48:27 in 30 types of aircraft, more than 500 carrier-assisted
00:48:31 landings, and flew 39 combat missions.
00:48:34 Jack Hathaway.
00:48:34 [APPLAUSE]
00:48:38 Jack Hathaway is an awesome person to serve with.
00:48:49 He's a father, a test pilot, a husband,
00:48:53 and an excellent team player.
00:48:54 I've learned so much when flying with him in the T-38.
00:48:58 We've had a blast flying on missions together.
00:49:01 Such a great guy.
00:49:01 I love you, brother.
00:49:02 [APPLAUSE]
00:49:06 Please welcome astronaut Jack Hathaway.
00:49:09 [APPLAUSE]
00:49:12 He's a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force
00:49:20 and an actively practicing emergency medicine physician
00:49:24 with fellowship training in wilderness and aerospace
00:49:26 medicine.
00:49:27 He holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering
00:49:30 and a doctor of medicine.
00:49:32 He's logged more than 1,000 hours as a pilot.
00:49:35 Anil Menon.
00:49:36 [APPLAUSE]
00:49:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:49:49 Anil, he has this amazing, great, huge heart.
00:49:54 He is one of the kindest people I know.
00:49:56 He cares about everyone around him.
00:49:58 He would give you the shirt off of his back
00:50:00 even if it was his last shirt.
00:50:02 He also puts 110% into everything he does.
00:50:06 I love his work ethic.
00:50:08 I've seen him put everything he has into everything he does,
00:50:11 and he never leaves anything for the way back.
00:50:13 [APPLAUSE]
00:50:16 Please welcome astronaut Anil Menon.
00:50:19 [APPLAUSE]
00:50:23 He has a PhD in astrophysics from MIT
00:50:31 and is a board-certified medical physicist.
00:50:34 He completed his residency at Harvard Medical School
00:50:36 and then joined the faculty as a clinical physicist
00:50:39 and researcher, where he helped to treat cancer patients
00:50:42 with radiation therapy.
00:50:44 He's a private pilot and an Eagle Scout.
00:50:47 Chris Williams.
00:50:48 [APPLAUSE]
00:50:51 Chris is an absolute legend when it
00:51:03 comes to understanding all the complex engineering systems we
00:51:06 have to deal with in all of our training.
00:51:08 He's always asking questions at least two layers deeper
00:51:11 than I can get to in the span of a class.
00:51:14 And what's bigger than his intellect is his humility.
00:51:18 Chris is always there with a smile on his face,
00:51:20 reminding us that we are so lucky to be here
00:51:23 a part of this team.
00:51:24 Thanks, Chris.
00:51:25 [APPLAUSE]
00:51:29 Please welcome astronaut Chris Williams.
00:51:32 [APPLAUSE]
00:51:36 After beginning her career in the United States Navy
00:51:43 as an enlisted sailor, she is now a lieutenant commander
00:51:47 with a distinguished career, serving on an active duty
00:51:50 as a Naval aviator and test pilot.
00:51:53 She holds a bachelor's and master's degree
00:51:55 in aerospace engineering.
00:51:56 Jessica Wittner.
00:51:57 [APPLAUSE]
00:52:10 We've heard a lot about her excellence as a pilot,
00:52:13 but the thing I wanted to focus on was her curiosity.
00:52:16 If you walk into Jess's office, you
00:52:17 see a collection of rocks sitting on her bookshelf.
00:52:20 And that all comes from our geology trips
00:52:22 and the passion she picked up for geology.
00:52:23 And the curiosity that she brings to that and everything
00:52:27 else is just incredible to see.
00:52:28 And I really look forward to watching
00:52:30 her carry that curiosity as she flies into orbit to the moon
00:52:33 and beyond.
00:52:34 [APPLAUSE]
00:52:36 Please welcome astronaut Jess Wittner.
00:52:39 [APPLAUSE]
00:52:42 She is the first Emirati and Arab woman astronaut
00:52:54 and holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
00:52:57 She is a member of the American Society of Mechanical
00:52:59 Engineers and worked as an engineer at the Abu Dhabi
00:53:02 National Oil Company.
00:53:04 Nora Almatroushi.
00:53:05 [APPLAUSE]
00:53:08 Everybody knows that astronaut training
00:53:19 is a pretty dynamic environment and demanding,
00:53:21 but that's where having a teammate like Nora is huge.
00:53:25 Whether you're riding out a hailstorm on top of Mountain
00:53:27 Wyoming or flying a T-38 jet, you can always count on Nora.
00:53:31 She's compassionate.
00:53:31 She's fearless.
00:53:32 She's always pushing boundaries and elevating the team.
00:53:34 Nora, it's been a blast training with you.
00:53:36 I look forward to our next adventure off planet.
00:53:39 [APPLAUSE]
00:53:42 Please welcome astronaut Nora Almatroushi.
00:53:47 [APPLAUSE]
00:53:49 He earned a commercial pilot's license
00:53:58 at 19 years old from Australia's Civil Aviation Safety
00:54:02 Authority, making him the youngest pilot in the Dubai
00:54:05 Police Force.
00:54:06 He holds a bachelor's degree in law and economics
00:54:09 and served as the head of the training
00:54:10 department of the Air Wing Center for the Dubai Police.
00:54:14 Mohamed Amoula.
00:54:15 [APPLAUSE]
00:54:18 It would be selfless and funny.
00:54:29 He is generous with his time.
00:54:31 He's the first person to put everyone else before himself.
00:54:34 And he does so with such an amazing sense of humor,
00:54:37 which is a constant joy throughout our entire training
00:54:39 process.
00:54:41 Mohamed, we've laughed together.
00:54:42 We've cried together.
00:54:43 We've done difficult things together.
00:54:45 Extremely fortunate to have had you as an office mate,
00:54:48 as one of my main training partners,
00:54:50 and most importantly, as a friend.
00:54:52 And it would be an absolute honor and privilege
00:54:54 to fly to space with you.
00:54:55 [APPLAUSE]
00:54:59 Please welcome astronaut Mohamed Amoula.
00:55:02 [APPLAUSE]
00:55:05 Oh my goodness.
00:55:13 Hey, let's give another round of applause
00:55:16 to our 23rd astronaut class.
00:55:18 [APPLAUSE]
00:55:21 [CHEERING]
00:55:24 [APPLAUSE]
00:55:28 [CHEERING]
00:55:31 [APPLAUSE]
00:55:35 [CHEERING]
00:55:54 [APPLAUSE]
00:55:58 And thank you to Vanessa, Norm, Joe, Shannon, and Salim.
00:56:07 Your leadership and dedication to excellence
00:56:10 enables our human space exploration missions
00:56:13 and makes these moments possible.
00:56:15 Please join me in a round of applause for them as well.
00:56:18 [CHEERING]
00:56:21 [APPLAUSE]
00:56:25 Let me just take a moment.
00:56:31 We're going to get to hear from someone in the class
00:56:34 here in a moment.
00:56:34 And I just want to take a moment to thank the families
00:56:38 for sharing your family members with us here at NASA.
00:56:43 NASA is very much a family.
00:56:46 But we also know that the sacrifices that all of you
00:56:48 have made over their careers, during their training,
00:56:51 and some of the times, well, they'll
00:56:53 be away from you in the future.
00:56:54 So thank you for that.
00:56:57 One of your--
00:56:58 [APPLAUSE]
00:57:01 One of your responsibilities going forward
00:57:13 will be speaking in front of large crowds many times.
00:57:18 And I know you're all very good at it already.
00:57:21 But let me take a minute to introduce to you
00:57:24 the newly minted NASA astronaut and class lead of the flies,
00:57:28 Chris Birch.
00:57:29 [APPLAUSE]
00:57:32 Now I'm going to hear around the astronaut office
00:57:43 the phrase said that spaceflight is the ultimate team sport.
00:57:47 And that couldn't be further--
00:57:49 that couldn't be-- that's very true.
00:57:51 [LAUGHTER]
00:57:54 That team is not just the 12 of us here on the stage.
00:57:59 It really is the entire NASA community.
00:58:02 And so we would like to extend an additional thanks
00:58:05 to all the people that made today possible.
00:58:07 The entire NASA external relations team,
00:58:11 the NASA communications team, Courtney, Chelsea,
00:58:15 thank you for helping us get ready for this event
00:58:18 today and letting us celebrate with our families.
00:58:20 Thank you to our leadership.
00:58:22 Thank you for your vision.
00:58:23 Thank you for your dedication to flying our crews safely.
00:58:27 And thank you for your encouraging and inspirational
00:58:30 words today.
00:58:32 We have been working hard for two years receiving training.
00:58:36 But it really has been this team, some of whom
00:58:39 are in the back, some of whom are watching online,
00:58:42 of trainers that have been dedicating
00:58:44 two years teaching us.
00:58:46 And so not only do they have to be experts at what they do,
00:58:50 they have to get us to understand
00:58:52 a little bit of what their expertise is in,
00:58:55 be it our CTOs, our space system trainers, our AOD
00:59:01 instructor pilots, our Russian language instructors.
00:59:05 Thank you all for putting up with us
00:59:08 when we forget how to conjugate a Russian verb for the 10th
00:59:12 time or when we ask this incessant list of what
00:59:16 if questions about how our spacesuit functions.
00:59:19 Thank you very much.
00:59:21 We also have to have a special thanks to the people that
00:59:23 coordinated all of this training, Cassie, Heather,
00:59:26 Donna, Christy.
00:59:27 You guys are the real geniuses who
00:59:30 can solve the incredible multivariable optimization
00:59:33 problem that is our training schedules.
00:59:36 What a mess.
00:59:36 I can't believe you guys do that every week.
00:59:39 And then finally, becoming an astronaut
00:59:41 is truly an apprenticeship.
00:59:44 And so we are going to be better at our jobs because
00:59:47 of the shared stories from our fellow astronauts,
00:59:51 our future crewmates.
00:59:52 And so thank you for your mentorship.
00:59:54 Thank you for your friendship.
00:59:57 And finally, of course, our families.
00:59:59 You guys are our better halves, our spouses, our moms,
01:00:03 our dads, our siblings, our friends, our teammates.
01:00:07 You've been nurturing our curiosities sometimes
01:00:10 since birth.
01:00:11 You've been encouraging our passions
01:00:13 and giving incredible amounts of patience
01:00:16 as we chase our dreams all over the globe
01:00:19 and landing here in Houston.
01:00:21 So thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
01:00:23 [APPLAUSE]
01:00:27 [CHEERING]
01:00:30 I know all of the flies feel a great sense of responsibility
01:00:38 and excitement for what comes next.
01:00:40 We feel ready.
01:00:42 We want to put our efforts and our energy
01:00:43 into supporting NASA's missions to low Earth orbit
01:00:46 to do science on the space station
01:00:48 or in support of our return to the moon
01:00:51 with Orion and the Artemis program.
01:00:54 So thank you.
01:00:55 We're excited to be on this team.
01:00:57 We're ready to get started.
01:00:59 And I have to say thank you to my fellow swarm.
01:01:03 You guys are incredible.
01:01:04 I know that I am a better astronaut and a better
01:01:07 human for all of the experiences that we have shared together.
01:01:12 We come from such different backgrounds.
01:01:14 We have very different perspectives
01:01:16 on a lot of things.
01:01:17 And it is because of that that we
01:01:19 have created this community of incredible technical
01:01:22 and personal growth.
01:01:25 I would not be standing here without you.
01:01:27 We have shared views from 40,000 feet out the cockpit of the T-38
01:01:32 while you shared your techniques for how to fly the jet safely.
01:01:37 We have shared the responsibility, the pressure,
01:01:40 and the satisfaction of doing a spacewalk rescue
01:01:44 during our NBL training.
01:01:46 We've shared the burden of carrying our favorite 30 pound
01:01:50 lava rock back to camp because we thought it warranted
01:01:53 more geology study.
01:01:56 And after a week in the Alabama backcountry
01:02:00 during our survival training when all the other MRE food ran
01:02:03 out, we shared together one final bag of peanut M&Ms.
01:02:10 And as you guys can see, we've done a lot of training
01:02:13 together.
01:02:14 We've also had a lot of fun together.
01:02:16 And so I welcome you all to take part and see a little bit more
01:02:23 about the spirit of what it means to be part of the swarm.
01:02:26 I think we have a video for that.
01:02:27 Thank you.
01:02:28 [APPLAUSE]
01:02:32 Lights, camera.
01:02:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:02:35 We come from all these different backgrounds,
01:02:37 but we're really similar.
01:02:38 We've got pilots from every service.
01:02:40 We've got scientists.
01:02:41 We've got engineers.
01:02:42 We've got a medical doctor.
01:02:43 We've got really smart, capable, and sometimes
01:02:46 some of the most fun humans that I've ever been around.
01:02:48 We really, really value team care.
01:02:50 We like to have a good laugh here and there
01:02:52 because in the adventure of space exploration,
01:02:55 as the humans in the loop, to be able to be calm and have
01:02:58 that good team care, help each other out,
01:03:00 make each other laugh, that's going to go a long way.
01:03:02 Who do I think is the funniest?
01:03:03 Denise, for sure, is extremely funny.
01:03:05 I think the funniest fly is probably Denise.
01:03:07 Ooh, definitely Denise is the funniest in our class.
01:03:10 You know, these are super smart people,
01:03:13 and it's hard not to agree.
01:03:15 [LAUGHTER]
01:03:16 I think the funniest fly is Marcus.
01:03:21 He's my office mate.
01:03:23 The best dancer in the class is a really tough competition.
01:03:26 Probably the best dancer is me.
01:03:27 You want to see it?
01:03:30 I think I'd have to go with Andre for this one.
01:03:32 Hands down, Andre.
01:03:34 I think we can all throw down when we're ready,
01:03:36 so I'd give us all a little bit of credit and pat on our backs.
01:03:39 So I'm going to say Marcus.
01:03:40 He danced a lot in the office, though.
01:03:42 Who has the best laugh?
01:03:44 I would say that's a toss-up between Andre, who
01:03:47 brings the energy, as well as Anil, who has that,
01:03:50 I would say, wise and experienced laugh.
01:03:53 Definitely Marcus.
01:03:54 He always laughs in the office.
01:03:56 So who wants to go to the moon?
01:03:57 Me!
01:03:59 Who wants to go to the moon?
01:04:02 It's me.
01:04:03 Hi.
01:04:04 I'm the problem, it's me.
01:04:06 And I'm joining.
01:04:09 Who's the goat?
01:04:10 The goat fly.
01:04:10 I think the greatest fly of all time is Marcus.
01:04:13 He's his office mate.
01:04:15 Marcus.
01:04:15 Marcus.
01:04:16 Marcus.
01:04:17 Marcus.
01:04:17 Marcus.
01:04:18 Marcus.
01:04:19 Marcus.
01:04:20 Definitely Marcus.
01:04:21 Marcus.
01:04:21 Marcus.
01:04:23 It's Marcus.
01:04:23 Well, as you can see, this class is as spirited
01:04:34 as they are talented.
01:04:35 And we cannot wait to see what their skills, creativity,
01:04:38 and promise bring to our astronaut corps.
01:04:42 I want to thank you all for joining us today
01:04:44 and celebrating in this moment.
01:04:46 And to thank our esteemed guests and speakers.
01:04:49 Thank you for supporting these graduates
01:04:51 as they embark on the greatest journey of their lives.
01:04:56 As we wrap up, I want to invite all of our graduates
01:04:59 to come up to center stage, because this next part
01:05:01 is for you.
01:05:02 Let's give them a big round of applause.
01:05:03 [APPLAUSE]
01:05:06,
01:05:31 Today has been a celebration of drive, determination,
01:05:36 and devotion.
01:05:38 As you begin to take your first steps as new astronauts
01:05:41 and turn them into our next giant leaps,
01:05:44 you will join a rich and storied history of humans
01:05:47 who have dared to reach beyond.
01:05:50 You will build on over 60 years of human spaceflight
01:05:53 exploration experience.
01:05:55 You will seek knowledge and understanding
01:05:58 and share it with the world.
01:06:00 And when you go, you will go together.
01:06:02 And we will all be with you.
01:06:05 We are proud of you.
01:06:06 Your country is proud of you.
01:06:08 The world is watching, and the stars are waiting.
01:06:11 Today, you are astronauts.
01:06:14 [APPLAUSE]
01:06:34 As class mom, I will say today is a bittersweet day for me.
01:06:38 But now it is time for you young astronauts to leave the nest
01:06:41 and take flight.
01:06:42 And as you embark on this next chapter, our next chapter
01:06:45 of humanity's exploration of the cosmos,
01:06:48 I want to leave you with this.
01:06:50 In the words of one of my good colleagues,
01:06:52 you have records to break, space to explore, humans to aspire,
01:06:57 vehicles to fly, and dreams to achieve.
01:06:59 I am so proud of each and every one of you.
01:07:02 And I cannot wait to see the dreams
01:07:04 that you will continue to accomplish as astronauts.
01:07:07 Thank you, and Godspeed.
01:07:08 [APPLAUSE]
01:07:31 So you want to be an astronaut?
01:07:33 If you have what it takes, we want you up here.
01:07:37 NASA's Professional Astronaut Corps
01:07:39 works as a team to train and to fly
01:07:41 for the benefit of all humankind and to provide
01:07:44 crew perspective for all of human space exploration.
01:07:48 We serve our country and our planet
01:07:50 by testing, developing, investigating, and flying.
01:07:55 Our decisions today ensure mission success and crew safety
01:07:58 for some of the most audacious missions
01:08:00 humans have ever undertaken to the moon and beyond.
01:08:04 If this sounds like you, then join our team.
01:08:07 Our selection approach is a holistic one.
01:08:09 We learn all we can about an applicant in a variety of ways,
01:08:13 including resume reviews, reference checks,
01:08:16 and for those highly qualified applicants that
01:08:18 advance to the interview rounds, we
01:08:20 do individual and team exercises and medical assessments.
01:08:24 The process involves a lot of subject matter experts,
01:08:27 including current astronauts, and takes about two years
01:08:30 from start to finish.
01:08:31 Our goal is to select a class of astronaut candidates
01:08:34 that are strong team members and operators,
01:08:36 adaptable to a variety of situations,
01:08:39 can be positive voices of NASA, and can successfully
01:08:42 complete training and ultimately be assigned a mission.
01:08:46 We depend on each other every day.
01:08:48 And in space, our lives depend on one another.
01:08:51 The success of our missions comes down
01:08:52 to the people who are part of them.
01:08:55 Astronauts don't just come from one walk of life
01:08:57 or one educational or career path.
01:08:59 Their multifaceted experiences have
01:09:01 given them a strong sense of purpose, made them adaptable,
01:09:05 and exposed them to work with people
01:09:07 that are different from them, giving them
01:09:09 strong teaming skills.
01:09:11 Make sure your family and friends
01:09:12 are on board with your goal.
01:09:14 You will need a strong support network
01:09:16 because you will lean on them.
01:09:17 But don't worry.
01:09:18 We'll be here for you also.
01:09:20 Of course, minimum qualifications
01:09:22 must be met to ensure an adequate foundation
01:09:24 of education and experience.
01:09:26 Those details can be found at nasa.gov/astronauts.
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01:15:39 Welcome back to NASA's Johnson Space Center for our question and answer session with NASA's newest class of astronaut graduates.
01:15:47 We have 100 students here from the area with us today and some have even come with questions for our astronauts.
01:15:55 We will also be taking social media questions using the hashtag #AskNASA and questions from media here in the room.
01:16:02 We will even have the opportunity to hear from some students from our astronauts' former schools.
01:16:08 So let's go ahead and kick it off.
01:16:11 Our first question today comes from Elliot at St. Paul Academy.
01:16:17 Hi, I'm Elliot in seventh grade at SPA. My question is, what was the most difficult part about astronaut training?
01:16:26 What was the most difficult part of astronaut training? This is a great question.
01:16:34 My usual go-to is the spacewalk training in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in the big pool.
01:16:38 But I thought about this and we actually spent 10 days backpacking through the wilderness of Wyoming at the National Outdoor Leadership School.
01:16:45 And as a group, we packed in all of our gear. We hiked over 35 miles.
01:16:51 And we got above the tree line on multiple nights and camped up there.
01:16:57 And we had a great time together getting to know each other, but also weathering the pop-up thunderstorms and the hail and the cold.
01:17:06 And we even did a cold plunge in one of the big ice lakes up there.
01:17:10 So it was a great time, but it was also one of the most difficult times.
01:17:14 Thank you, Nicole. We'll take our next question in the room here from our media side.
01:17:20 Good morning. My name is Ada Monzon. I'm from WAPA Televisión, Puerto Rico.
01:17:33 Congratulations, FLYS. You are certainly the scientific model of science exploration.
01:17:40 The question is, the 12 of you represent NASA's commitment to diversity and inclusion.
01:17:47 How is that helping you and the agency accomplish big challenges such as the crewed missions to the Moon and Mars?
01:17:55 I can start this one off. I think just the group we had together as we started training,
01:18:04 we had really new and fresh perspectives on problems and how to solve things.
01:18:08 And I think that translates to the larger mission when you start going into deep space and you're on your own and you really got to get together,
01:18:15 come up with quick solutions to address any issues you might encounter.
01:18:18 So the diverse perspectives are huge. And the group, we've done a great job, I think, as a swarm, coming to all those, meeting all those challenges.
01:18:26 Okay. We will take our next question from here in the room from our student section. Brian, go ahead.
01:18:35 Hi. My name is Brian Ermshaw. I'm from Clear Creek High School. It's an honor to be here. Congratulations to you all.
01:18:42 My question is how do you anticipate your perspective of life, Earth and humanity changing after experiencing looking at the Earth from space for the first time?
01:18:50 That's a great question. Thanks for asking.
01:18:56 When you go up into space, and obviously we haven't been there yet, but we hear from all of our veteran colleagues about how you just see one Earth,
01:19:04 how you see the Earth, how it's all interconnected, all the ecosystems, all the places.
01:19:11 There's no lines from orbit. You just see all the potential, all the just incredible beauty of the Earth.
01:19:17 And when you're up in space and you're part of the NASA team with our international partners, we see the beauty of the Earth and we see the beauty of working as a team.
01:19:25 So when we get up onto orbit, we're really excited to see what Earth looks like and know that we've gotten there as a team and that our success is because of how well we work together with our international partners across the world.
01:19:36 Thanks for asking.
01:19:38 Congratulations.
01:19:40 Thank you, Brian.
01:19:41 We will take another question from the media here in the room.
01:19:44 Hello. Good morning. My name is Samira Mendoza. I'm coming from Telemundo, Puerto Rico.
01:19:48 And my question is for Marcus Barrios.
01:19:51 What advice would you give to the Latin community and the young persons that are – that wants to follow in your footsteps?
01:19:59 What is needed?
01:20:01 Gracias por la pregunta.
01:20:05 I would say what is required is to maintain a sense of curiosity.
01:20:10 I think that what's important is to explore, to understand problems, and that it's okay to ask for help.
01:20:21 I think an important characteristic is to be very dedicated, very disciplined, with a dose of humility, that you don't know everything, to rely on your colleagues, your teammates, so that not only can you make yourself better, but also the team.
01:20:37 Thank you.
01:20:39 You're welcome.
01:20:41 Okay, we'll head back over to our student section. Go ahead.
01:20:45 Hi, Samantha. Hi. I'm from Clear Creek High School. I'm so honored to be here. And my question for you is, what do you plan to achieve as an astronaut?
01:20:53 Well, thanks, Nancy, for the question. I really appreciate you being here, too, and helping to support us on this day.
01:21:07 You know, what do I hope to achieve as an astronaut?
01:21:11 Well, I think, Chris Birch put it really nicely, that we're here as part of a huge team.
01:21:15 And we're a very visible member of that team, but we're really representing all of NASA, all of America, all of the world, in what we do, because we're trying to explore for the betterment of all.
01:21:27 And so I think that puts a huge responsibility on us.
01:21:29 And the thing that, at least for me, is I really want to make everybody proud and to do my best to give back and to make what we're doing here count.
01:21:39 So, you know, for me, I think it's, you know, living up to the responsibility that you all have put in us.
01:21:43 Okay, we have a fairly similar question from social media. So if someone else could answer this.
01:21:52 This is from Miss Blue Beats on Instagram, and they ask, what are your goals now that you all have graduated?
01:22:02 So I guess I'll answer this, since it's similar. So our goals really are to explore space and bring everybody together.
01:22:09 We're here to push the limits of humanity, right? Whether we're doing that on a spaceflight, whether we're doing that on the ground, whether we're doing that as a management astronaut.
01:22:19 Everything that we do in the office is to push us forward, to keep us growing and trying new things.
01:22:26 And for me, we're excited to work with these international partners, these commercial companies. I mean, Intuitive Machines just landed something at the south part of the moon.
01:22:34 We're very excited. We have other capabilities. And for us, we want to work with all of these groups, all of these organizations, to keep human spaceflight relevant, to keep us going forward.
01:22:45 So we're very excited. And that's the goal that we overall have, is just to keep us moving forward.
01:22:52 Okay, our next question is for Marcos, sent in from Ian Colon at Westland Academy.
01:22:58 Hello Marcos, my name is Ian and I'm from 6-1 at Westland Academy. I would like to ask you, which part was the hardest in your journey to become an astronaut? And which skills and habits did you need to achieve this?
01:23:14 I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your graduation.
01:23:22 Thank you for the question, Ian, and thank you for the congratulations.
01:23:27 I'm going to probably add to what Vapor started with earlier. I would say the hardest part was the first part of the process.
01:23:34 I think that part was not only physically but also mentally demanding. Physically, because you're in a pressurized space suit, it's stiff, it requires strength and endurance.
01:23:43 But also mentally, because you have to be focused for six hours at a time and you have to be able to do things that you're not supposed to be doing.
01:23:53 Physically, because you're in a pressurized space suit, it's stiff, it requires strength and endurance. But also mentally, because you have to be focused for six hours at a time, maintain high awareness of your surroundings as well as your partner.
01:24:09 And what skills are needed, I would say to succeed in the spacewalk training, dedication, discipline, to be prepared. So I think we spent quite a bit of time understanding the procedures, understanding what we needed to do.
01:24:26 The other would be teamwork and with a dose of humility. You're not going to know everything. You're going to have to rely on your teammates. I was very lucky to go through training with Vapor, Luke, and Mohamed, and we spent hours and hours studying together and training.
01:24:45 And I think that made us better as individuals, but also more importantly made us better as a team. And the last is not only your peers, but also the instructors, your teachers who have a vested interest in seeing you succeed.
01:24:59 And so we were very fortunate to have the likes of Emma, Jenny, and the entire behavioral health performance team support us through that process.
01:25:07 All right, thank you.
01:25:09 You're welcome.
01:25:11 We will take our next question from media here in the room. Go ahead.
01:25:14 Hi, I'm Jessica Fernandez from the Weather Channel and the Weather Channel in Espanol. This question is for anybody that wants to answer it.
01:25:20 So with such a diverse group, what do you believe is the importance of teamwork in achieving success in a space exploration mission?
01:25:29 Hi, thank you for the question. I think diversity in our group, which you all have heard about today, is incredibly important for spaceflight.
01:25:43 Every one of us brings different background and with that different opinions about how to solve different problems.
01:25:49 And so when you are open to the different solutions that are out there, you can really come up with the best solution.
01:25:56 Everybody here, we work together incredibly well, and we're looking forward to working with the rest of the offices well now too.
01:26:04 So whoever is on the next crews that are going up, know that the diversity that they bring to the table is really one of the strongest,
01:26:12 it's one of the strengths of the crew, and that they can work through these problems and you know that they're going to come up with the best solution they can.
01:26:20 Thank you.
01:26:22 Okay, we'll come back over to our student section. Go ahead.
01:26:27 My name is Ashlyn Harper from LaPorte ISD. This question is to Nicole Ayers. When you were a pilot in the military, why did you choose the call sign "VAPOR"?
01:26:40 Thank you for the question. Actually, you don't get to choose your call sign. Your friends in the squadron choose it for you.
01:26:53 So when you first show up to a squadron, you get to know everybody, they get to know you, they get to see your interactions, how you fly the airplane, how you work on the team as well.
01:27:03 And then they get a, it's a tradition where we, they get to tell stories about everything that they've seen me do.
01:27:09 And so VAPOR comes from one of those stories. So I love it. It's a really cool call sign, but you know, naturally stories aren't always the coolest.
01:27:18 But yeah, that's where VAPOR comes from.
01:27:22 Thank you.
01:27:23 Thank you, Ashlyn and Nicole. We will take our next question from here in the room from our media. Go ahead.
01:27:30 Hi there. Congratulations. Michelle Choi with KU311 News, the CBS station here in Houston.
01:27:36 Honestly, my question is geared to all astronauts here. Congratulations again.
01:27:43 But I would like to specifically talk to Nicole and Anil. I understand that you both of you had some schooling here in the Houston and Galveston area.
01:27:52 My question is, you know, you'll be the first group of astronauts to do moon missions since the Apollo astronauts.
01:27:58 If you could explain to the audience and to the public what that means for you guys.
01:28:07 Yeah, it was a great studying here in the Houston area. I did aerospace medicine at UTMB Galveston, which was a wonderful experience.
01:28:17 One of the few places that you can really dive into medicine.
01:28:21 And what I think the Artemis mission means to us is a lot like Commander Wiseman talked about.
01:28:29 It's all of us working together to just expand the boundaries and stand on the shoulders of giants and move forward for all of humanity.
01:28:38 I think for space medicine that I have a particular interest in, we're going to see more and more people up there.
01:28:44 We're going to see people up there longer than we've ever seen them. And we're going to see new conditions.
01:28:48 It's just going to expand the sphere of medicine as we understand it in space and as we understand it on the ground.
01:28:55 And I'm excited about that because I love medicine. And so it's not often you get to break into new territory like that.
01:29:01 So I'm super excited for anyone who's entering medical school right now who's interested in medical school,
01:29:07 because it's those people who will also get to see the fruits of that and what we are able to discover through science and all that we learn.
01:29:14 So thanks for the question. Love studying at Galveston.
01:29:21 All right. Thank you. We will take our next question from social media.
01:29:25 And this question comes from the Heather Knot on Instagram. Who designed the group patch?
01:29:31 It's definitely a team effort. Complicated story. We can't get into it.
01:29:45 But there's an awesome patch designer that works at JSC that we gave her our ideas and they'd be like, yeah, that's great.
01:29:52 But let's tweak it. So we kind of went through several iterations. And if you all haven't seen it, it's pretty awesome.
01:30:00 Thank you, Denise. We will head over to our student section. Go ahead.
01:30:06 My name is Jerry Ruiz. And my question is, how long have you wanted to become an astronaut and why did you become one?
01:30:14 I wanted to become an astronaut since I was a little kid.
01:30:19 And I think a lot of us are like that as well. Ever since you're a little kid, you dream of space and you kind of grow up and you find a career that matches you,
01:30:27 whether it's medicine or whether it's being a pilot or whether it's being an engineer or an academic,
01:30:32 you find part of your life that just makes you feel alive, that you're really excited about.
01:30:38 And as you go through that great career, maybe you have an opportunity like everyone here does to apply to a new astronaut class
01:30:44 and you get the opportunity to become one of this incredible core.
01:30:47 So it's great to have wanted to be an astronaut since you were a little kid. A lot of us are like that way.
01:30:52 But some people just decide they want to be an astronaut one day and apply for the opportunity.
01:30:56 And it turns out they're a great fit for the team. Are you thinking about being an astronaut someday?
01:31:01 No.
01:31:04 All right. Well, thanks for your question. And whatever you try to do with your life, I'm excited for you.
01:31:11 Yes. Thank you for your honesty. Not all of us can be as amazing as you are, but you can. Everyone apply.
01:31:21 We have another video question. This one is from Olivia at St. Paul Academy.
01:31:29 Hi, my name is Olivia and I'm in eighth grade at SPA. What advice would you give to people with the goal of becoming astronauts?
01:31:37 I'll take this one because I went to SPA and I love Minneapolis, Minnesota, too, as much as McAlpiston.
01:31:44 But my advice would be to work hard, be helpful and never give up.
01:31:50 Like Jack said, I wanted to be an astronaut since I was six. And I 40 years later, I got that opportunity.
01:31:57 And there was a lot of times to give up along the way there, but I didn't. And if I did, I wouldn't be here today.
01:32:02 So that's my biggest piece of advice. Thanks for the question.
01:32:05 OK, we'll head over to the media section. Go ahead.
01:32:09 Hi, good morning. My name is Fernanda Ramos. I'm from KXLN Univision 45 here in Houston.
01:32:16 And my question is basically for Dr. Berrios, or now astronaut Marcos Berrios.
01:32:23 First of all, congratulations to everyone on your remarkable achievement.
01:32:27 As you stand at this milestone, could you share how this achievement has shaped your perspective on representation as a Hispanic in space exploration?
01:32:36 And my second question could be, could you offer any advice for Double Jones dreamers aiming for the stars?
01:32:45 Gracias por la pregunta. That's a deep question. I think it requires quite a bit of thought.
01:32:52 I will say that representation is extremely important. I'm fortunate to have others kind of open doors for me,
01:33:01 specifically Joe, Frank, Serena, and everyone who's come before me.
01:33:06 I think today hopefully marks another opportunity to open doors for others like me in the future
01:33:14 to recognize that the talent in the Latin American community is strong and that there's no reason for anyone to think otherwise.
01:33:25 And so my advice to them would be to not give up, to stay curious, stay humble, be disciplined,
01:33:36 and throughout all adversity, throughout all obstacles, it'll all be worth it in the end.
01:33:43 Thank you so much.
01:33:44 Okay, we have another social media question. I think it'd be fun if a few of you would answer this.
01:33:50 It is from Twitch, and what is the one snack that you would take to space if you could pick one?
01:33:56 For me, it would be definitely M&M. We shared a lot of memories about that one pack on the survival show. Good memory.
01:34:12 You got it?
01:34:14 For me specifically, it would be chocolate chip cookies. And only if they're burnt a little bit, because I like them crunchy.
01:34:22 I would say peanut butter and chocolate chips, both on a spoon. Spin that thing around in zero-g, it'd be awesome.
01:34:30 And I'll top it off, no further question after I make the comment. I would take yellow mustard.
01:34:38 Delicious.
01:34:41 I would take salt and vinegar chips.
01:34:44 All right, thank you all. We will head over to our student section. Go ahead.
01:34:51 Hello, I am Jacob Wortmaker from Kline High School with the High School Aerospace Scholars Program.
01:34:57 My question was, what advice would you give someone like myself that is interested in the aerospace industry?
01:35:05 All right, so for advice for yourself, and thanks for the question, this is probably applicable to a lot of folks.
01:35:11 So, you know, starting out when you're doing your education in engineering, you're likely interested in math and science.
01:35:18 And, you know, I say, kind of like others have said, is focus on that passion of math and science.
01:35:25 And if you're interested in engineering, you're probably interested in math and science.
01:35:31 And I say, kind of like others have said, is focus on that passion of math and science.
01:35:34 Because as you start to really embrace those things, you'll perform really well at it.
01:35:39 And then other people will notice, and they'll feed off of you.
01:35:42 So whether you're going from your first job, it could be in the aerospace industry, it gets contagious, people see you doing very well,
01:35:49 you'll start to do excellent things in your industry, and then you kind of leapfrog to the next thing that you care about.
01:35:55 But you want to aim your vector towards space exploration, which is where we are today.
01:36:00 You can also do space exploration in many different forms, whether it's an astronaut,
01:36:03 whether it's somebody that's building a satellite, or you're doing space law.
01:36:07 So you have many different options to explore space.
01:36:10 And this is one of the bonuses in the suit that we can serve in space exploration.
01:36:14 So my advice for you and everybody else is point in the direction, try to achieve your goals,
01:36:19 do everything that you can, work hard like some of our other classmates have said.
01:36:22 But, you know, you want that vector to go towards that direction,
01:36:26 and use the skills and the passion that you have to get everybody excited so that you can go there.
01:36:30 Could I just add one thing to that?
01:36:32 This is a great plug.
01:36:34 I was a NASA intern, and I do advise that look into internships, right?
01:36:38 Having that opportunity to work and experience what it may be like,
01:36:44 and in seconding what Andre said, there's space for everyone.
01:36:47 You don't have to be an astronaut.
01:36:49 Everyone contributes in their own way, and they're all valuable.
01:36:55 Thank you.
01:36:56 Okay, we have a little time left.
01:36:58 If we have any additional media who would like to ask questions, please come up to the microphone.
01:37:02 Hey, Courtney.
01:37:04 We have a media right here.
01:37:06 Go ahead.
01:37:08 I'm just going to give Nicole a chance to answer.
01:37:10 Earlier, she didn't get a chance to speak.
01:37:13 If she had anything to say about my original question.
01:37:17 Do I need?
01:37:19 This was about being formally introduced.
01:37:23 I just finished my graduate degree here at Rice.
01:37:26 I would add on to what Anil said in terms of,
01:37:29 you've got a wonderful support family here from the time that I spent here.
01:37:32 Working and living here, it feels like you're constantly walking where someone else walked previously.
01:37:40 The current and the previous astronauts, this whole area is just full of so much history.
01:37:44 I can't wait to follow in their footsteps and just amazed by all the history around here.
01:37:50 Appreciate it.
01:37:52 Thank you.
01:37:53 Okay, we have a question from Sunflower Spirited on YouTube.
01:37:58 They ask, "What's the story behind the 30-pound lava rock?"
01:38:02 [laughter]
01:38:08 I think we both have to answer this one.
01:38:11 I'll start us off.
01:38:13 We were in Arizona.
01:38:16 We were on a geology expedition to learn about the geology that we may find out on the moon or Mars one day.
01:38:23 We came upon a really exciting, interesting rock that had three different types of crystals inside this rock.
01:38:31 Even our geologist instructors were very excited about this.
01:38:35 We took a nice long break there.
01:38:37 We decided, "Well, we're just going to bring it back with us."
01:38:41 It was no small rock.
01:38:45 This was not a small sample.
01:38:46 This was the size of a large loaf of bread.
01:38:49 Lava rocks are quite dense, full of these beautiful minerals.
01:38:52 I think we called it like fruitcake because it looks so colorful.
01:38:56 In true fly fashion, we got into an argument over who would put the rock in their backpack to do the heavy work to carry it back.
01:39:04 Everyone wanted to help out, but it was actually just that after we had done our studies in the field,
01:39:12 my mom came home, sliced it up for us, and has been working to polish it by hand for memories.
01:39:17 [laughter]
01:39:19 [applause]
01:39:24 Okay, we have another question here in the room. Go ahead.
01:39:28 Hi, Andrea Leinfelder with the Houston Chronicle.
01:39:31 I'm sorry if I missed this, but I haven't heard the origin story yet of how you guys became called the Flies.
01:39:37 [laughter]
01:39:42 It is tradition for a class when they are brought into the office for the first time to be given a name from the class preceding them.
01:39:50 The class that was hired before us was the Turtles.
01:39:54 The Turtles got to know us a little bit and bestowed on us this fly name.
01:40:02 Traditionally, these names go back, every class has had one.
01:40:08 They are usually things that do not take well to flight, so we were really surprised that they gave us a flying creature.
01:40:15 It was quite a compliment. I think they had a lot of faith in us and hoped that we'd fly soon.
01:40:22 It was probably one of the nicer call signs a class could have.
01:40:29 [laughter]
01:40:32 There's too much heavy laughter on the "fly soon" part from some of our colleagues in the audience.
01:40:37 [laughter]
01:40:40 As Denise pointed out, in picking out our patch and designing it, we did settle on the house fly outline.
01:40:47 We do respond quite well to the swarm. We think it has a little bit more pizzazz.
01:40:52 [laughter]
01:40:56 That concludes our astronaut Q&A session. Thank you to our students and to our media who joined us in person today to ask questions.
01:41:03 And to our students who joined virtually and all of those who asked questions through social media.
01:41:09 A huge thank you to our astronauts for your time and your wonderful responses today.
01:41:14 For those of you who feel inspired, don't forget that applications are now open and you can apply today.
01:41:22 Thanks for joining.
01:41:25 [applause]
01:41:43 [silence]