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Hi, I'm Alvin Drew. I'm an astronaut. This
is ask NASA and I'm here to answer your

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questions.

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So who is going to the Moon
with NASA? It's going to be a lot of

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folks. It's going to be our own industry
helping us get there. It's all going to

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be our international partners, many of
whom have been with us on the

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International Space Station, plus a few
others,

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who are building the Gateway. Well,

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those who are not familiar, this is the
Gateway. Lots of folks are going to build

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this, different companies. We're going to
build these things  - different countries

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are going to contribute. This part here
with the legs on it is a part that

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takes off and lands from the surface of
the Moon. And then finally this is a

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transition stage, to get us across that
50 thousand mile gap between the Gateway

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and the Moon. The Gateway is a great
place for us to stay on the Moon. And so

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if you have a vehicle out there that can
dock to it, no matter what it is, no

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matter what country you're from,
you can plug into it. You can get power,

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you can get data and then you become
part of the Gateway. The Gateway will

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work a lot like the International Space
Station. We'll assemble it using robotic

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arms and spacewalks as well, along with
docking and berthing, just like we do

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today.
Why does NASA need partners? Well, it's

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because we're doing great things out
there. We're not going to go anywhere

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without our partners with us. It's going
to take a crew to get us to Mars. Another

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example of our international partnership
is the International Space Station. 19

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nations in total is what it took to make
that space station what it is today.

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So what's the next question here. Is this
a modern space race? Well, yes and no. Yes,

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we're up against the clock, but no, we're
not racing against each other. This is

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more of a partnership, a relay race that
involves our domestic industry as well

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as our international partners.

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So how did going into space influence
you? It's a tiny, tiny little island in

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the middle of a great big black sea.
There's no little yellow boundary line

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separating our countries from one
another. We really are all together here

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on this one island, in the middle of
nowhere/

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That was the best throw we have ever had. (Laughter)

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So what does it feel like in space?

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You're weightless. You're strapped in
your seat and you can float. Imagine

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being in a pool without any water - you're
not wet. What's the best way to become an

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astronaut? I can tell you the one thing
every astronaut had in common is that

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they were pursuing something that was
not being an astronaut, that really had

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their passion. They really liked what
they were doing and that's why they

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excelled at it and that's why they stood
out enough to become an astronaut. Where

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can you find the best views on the
International Space Station? From the

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cupola. Far and away the best investment
we've ever made. You can just see the

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universe from there, short of going out
on a spacewalk.

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I heard you were in a

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Willie Nelson video. Do you still have
your costume? Of course I still have my

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costume. What else you think I'm wearing
when I'm playing air guitar? One of the

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cool things like being an astronaut is
you can sometimes inadvertently wind up

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on the set of a video shoot. This one
involved Willie Nelson and his whiskey

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river range.

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Well Alex, I can only guess.
We're going to go to Mars in the near

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future. We're going to go to the moon in
preparation for going to Mars and by the

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time we get there, you'll be old enough
to come back and tell me what life was

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like on Mars.

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To the top, where there's the best view.

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Do you have a question for NASA? Send