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exploring is about pushing the bounds of

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what we are capable of as humans

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it gets at who we are intrinsically as

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people and so because of that i think it

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really is something that unites all of

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us together here on

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earth my name is jessica watkins and i'm

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a mission specialist for nasa's spacex

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crew 4 mission to the international

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space station

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at a pretty early age i got kind of set

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on the idea of becoming an astronaut

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that was when i kind of first voiced the

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dream and interest in space and in being

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an astronaut in particular

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my parents always stressed the

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importance of getting a good education

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and finding something that you're

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passionate about and so finding geology

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finding that love of mind that passion

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was really a turning point for me in my

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career

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my graduate work focused mostly on the

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geology of mars it was part of my

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interest in wanting to pursue

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internships at nasa and gave me that

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exposure to those different

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possibilities of what careers are

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possible in this planetary geology field

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deciding to be an astronaut is kind of

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setting out a dream for yourself and

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then kind of stowing it in the back of

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your head at least in my case

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so the day that i received the phone

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call to invite me to come down to

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johnson space center and become an

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astronaut just really was truly a dream

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come true

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ladies and gentlemen the newest

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astronaut jessica watkins

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[Applause]

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and i still am waiting for somebody to

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pinch me and wake me up

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[Music]

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the opportunity to be the first black

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woman on an international space station

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long duration crew is exciting it

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certainly is important to me and

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impactful to me to be able to

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be a part of the legacy that so many

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before me have paved the way to

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enable me to be here now as much as i

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can be a small part of that legacy i'm

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honored to have the opportunity

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being selected to be a part of this crew

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4 mission is truly an honor

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i am so excited about the opportunity to

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fly with chell samantha and bob

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all three of them are very different

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they all bring different skill sets

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different experiences

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but i think all four of us together

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really just coalesce well as a crew

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[Music]

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i think launch day is going to be the

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day

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that all this starts to really finally

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feel real

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and so i just look forward to that

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moment of exhale and of excitement