- I'm astronaut Nicole Mann.

- I am astronaut Frank Rubio.

- I am NASA astronaut Jessica Meir.

- So there's about a million things going through my mind,

as I think about going to the moon.

- You know that the little kid inside of me,

just gets super excited.

- For me, that has always been this dream mission,

this driving exploration and curiosity of that next step.

- You know, just the excitement,

the amount of effort and the teamwork

that goes into such an amazing expedition

and really what it means to humanity.

So it's very exciting.

- If I can be a part of those missions in any capacity,

it will truly be a dream come true.

- I think it is important that in 2024,

we're gonna see the first woman walk on the moon

and the next man.

And it is a huge team effort,

but what it does, it just shows the diversity

that we have in NASA, in the United States,

really in the world that the barriers are broken down.

- I think for all of us that are involved

on this Artemis team,

we would all be absolutely thrilled

to be the first woman on the moon.

And to know that even if it's not me,

that I probably know the first woman

that's going to set foot on the moon is something

that is so fulfilling.

- So it really wasn't until a little bit later on in life

that I realized that I wanted to be an astronaut.

You know, as a young woman,

I was interested in math and science,

but I didn't realize maybe the possibilities

that were out there.

- My mom says, I first started saying I wanted

to be an astronaut when I was five years old.

Everybody associated that with me all through my childhood.

- My dream was always to be a physician

and to be an army doctor

and then to be a special forces doctor.

And so I was kinda living my dream

and I was in my dream job.

And then a friend recommended

that I try out for the program.

So it was really very late.

- I think for me it was really a combination of things

of having this fascination for science and nature

and the world around me.

- The fact that I can continue to be a part of something

that's bigger than myself.

- So many things out there, you should never limit yourself.

The possibilities are absolutely endless.

- I think he's pretty excited.

I think, you know,

he's a little worried about me leaving home

for an extended period of time, I think.

He's only eight,

so I think as any eight year old kid would be,

but I think he's also very excited

and I tell you it's different now.

Sometimes we always sit outside

and we love to look at the stars and look at the moon.

But now I think both of us look at it

with a little different light in our eyes

and a little different twinkle,

knowing that, you know, someday soon we're gonna be,

you know, back there on the moon.

And hopefully someday he'll be able to watch mom fly by

and walk on the moon.

- When we do hard things

and we challenge ourselves as humanity

to take on big challenges,

it brings us together and it pushes us

to develop new technologies, new ideas.

- I think exploring space is so important,

really for the benefit of all of humanity.

- This is just an innate characteristic in the human species

to explore.

- Science and technology development,

to exploration of our species as a humans

and where we're going and where we came from.

- Understanding more about our solar system,

about our universe, about the formation,

not only of other planetary objects, like the moon and Mars,

but of our own.

- And you also see the benefits back on earth

from science development,

and also just inspiring the next generation.

- We end up changing our lives forever.

And I think for the most part for the betterment of mankind.

- When you look back at the planet from above,

you don't see any of those man-made geopolitical boundaries

that we've imposed upon ourselves.

And it's so easy to realize

how we truly are all in this together.

We are all one.