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We explore space because that is the

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human condition. We are always trying to

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learn more.

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My name is Josh Cassada and I'm the

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pilot for NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 Mission

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to the International Space Station.

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I was born in California but I was

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raised in White Bear Lake Minnesota. In

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high school I really really enjoyed and

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did well at math and that's actually

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what drove me to wanting to study

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physics in in college was to understand

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the bigger picture and really how the

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universe works and operates. I got both

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my masters and PhD and studied with an

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incredible team at Fermilab. Doing high

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energy particle physics at Fermilab we

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collide protons and anti-protons at

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nearly the speed of light. The

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interesting part of particle physics is

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this is how we understand what's

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happening at the fundamental building

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blocks of nature.

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At the conclusion of my graduate atudies

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at Fermilab I had an opportunity to join

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the U.S Navy and fly for the Navy and I

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absolutely took it.

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The Navy has been really good to me but

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it was it was a shift in culture for

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sure. I have flown over 4 000 hours in

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over 45 aircraft and what that allows

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you to do is just be ready for

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whatever's coming next and know that

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you're going to have to think on your

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feet. There is a link between aviation

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and physics and for me that link is just

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being ready for the unexpected. You have

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to be prepared for everything that might

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be thrown at you. You need to be able to

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look at problems in very different ways

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and so I thought man being an astronaut

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kind of merges all of those things.

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NASA says it's accepting applications

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for new astronauts of the roughly 3 500

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applicants NASA is expecting only about

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15 will be selected for training. And so

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I had applied for this position at Nasa

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I'll be honest I had no intention of

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getting it. You know you don't win the

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lottery if you don't buy a ticket so I

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I gave it a shot and when I got that

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call my family and my friends we

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couldn't be more excited to be a part of

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this amazing amazing experience. And I'll

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tell you I am just so honored and

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humbled to be a part of this NASA team

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and to be able to contribute to the next

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generation of exploration and science.

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I couldn't be more lucky than to fly

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with crew 5. For me going to space is an

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opportunity to do my job. We've been

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training and preparing for a long time

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and to be honest that's my priority is

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to get up there and do what we've been

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trained to do. And the science is an

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incredibly exciting part of that for me