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(music throughout ) More

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than 50 years ago, NASA's Apollo program
sent humans

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to the moon with less computing power
than is in your mobile phone.

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Since then, technology has transformed
space exploration.

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We've landed rovers on Mars
and sent robotic explorers

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to the outer reaches of our solar system.

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Now we're ready to send humans
into space again.

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Starting at the place we know best.

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The Moon, where we're going to stay
and learn as much as possible

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as we forge a human path deeper
into space than ever before.

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Artemus is NASA's program to return humans
to the moon for long term exploration.

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It is named after the Greek goddess
who is Apollo's twin sister.

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The Artemis mission will take us to

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the Moon's South Pole, a region
that's rich in natural resources

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and geologic features that will help us
answer fundamental questions

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about the history of our Moon, Earth
and Solar System.

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On this season of NASA Explorers,
you'll meet the scientists,

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engineers,
technicians and astronauts of Artemis.

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These are the people who are designing
science investigations,

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analyzing grains of moon dust in the lab,
building tools for lunar exploration

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and training to conduct science
on the surface

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of the moon.

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Yes. So my job title is now astronaut.

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NASA astronaut.

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What first interested me
and the first time I kind of said

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that I wanted to be an astronaut.

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I was around nine years old.

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I was doing an after school curricular
program at Judy Resnik Elementary School.

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And I think I asked my parents about
who she was and what her career path was.

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And I think that was the first time
that it was explained to me that, hey,

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you know, you you could go to space and
hang out there as a as a career option.

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So I think that was kind of the first time
I said, that sounds awesome.

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That's really what I'd like to do.

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I had done some kind of,
you know, summer program type of classes.

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One thing that sticks out in my head
was dissecting a cow eye.

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And I came home and was just raving
about how cool that was.

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And it's so fun.

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And I think my parents looked at me
kind of funny, but I think that was,

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you know, kind of the beginning of my
my interest in love in science and,

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you know, really wanting to dive
into research and asking questions.

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Before becoming an astronaut, Dr.

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Jessica Watkins
worked as a planetary geologist,

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as a member of the science team
behind NASA's Curiosity rover.

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Her work focused on Mars.

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Now, Jessica is working
aboard the International Space Station

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and is one of the Artemis astronauts
and rare human beings

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who may get to leave their footprints
on the moon.

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In that moment, there is a whole team of
hundreds of people that have contributed,

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probably thousands of people
that have contributed to that reality.

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And, you know,
the kind of the last piece of it

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is, you know, the human in the loop
that's actually executing it.

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But in reality, it will just be about
representing that the rest of that team

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well and doing your job,
your one piece of that puzzle well.

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Dr. Julie Mitchell represents

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another piece of the Artemis
puzzle sample processing and storage.

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When Artemus astronauts deliver
the next set of moon samples to earth,

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they'll need to be stored
in a specifically designed facility

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and preserved for current
and future generations.

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My main title is the curator of Ices
and Organics.

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All that means is that I'm helping NASA
get ready to bring ice samples back

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from the solar system.

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So I work in what's called the Astro
Materials Acquisition and Curation Office.

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We just call it
the curation Office for short.

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So all of the Apollo moon, rocks,
meteorites, all of our sample return

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missions from asteroids, from comets,
all of those samples come here to Houston

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and it's our office job
to take care of those samples

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and make sure that they're available
to the scientific community to study.

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So I grew up in Louisiana on the bayou.

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You know, I was down at the water all
the time looking for snakes and turtles

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and looking at different plants
that were out there.

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Nighttime would come around.

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And, you know,
I was just looking at the stars.

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I wanted to know the constellations.

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I wanted to understand
what was going on up there.

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And neither of my parents went to college.

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None of my siblings
or I had any expectation

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of going to college either.

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My older sister, she actually ended up
going to college eventually got her Ph.D.

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She just gave me a hard time
and just kind of

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was very persistent with me and saying,
look, just apply to one school.

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Luckily, I got in and when I got in
that was kind of the switch

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that flipped like, Oh, okay,
I can't actually do this,

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and I want as many people as possible
to know

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that there are people who are working at
NASA who,

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you know,
didn't grow up with a lot of resources

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and have still found a way to
to make a contribution.

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Okay.

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So how does a kid that come from
the rough part of Lima

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get interested into science?

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Of course, I was very curious
and I was very motivated for science.

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I don't think
I would have gotten into science

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if it wasn't because of a kind of need
I had for achieving something great.

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Dr. Jose Aponte works in the Astrobiology

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Analytical Laboratory at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center.

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He studies
grains of dust from meteorites, asteroids

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and the moon, hunting
for microscopic clues to help answer

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a gigantic question
- Where did the seeds of life come from?

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Jose could be among the first humans to
study samples from the moon's South Pole.

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I read an advertisement that read We are

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looking for an astrobiologist
to study organic compounds in meteorites.

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Astrobiologist?

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What's that like?

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I never heard that word before.

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I had no clue, honestly.

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So I've read about it and said, Wow,
this is pretty cool.

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Organic compounds in meteorites.

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Meteorites.

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Okay, that sounds exciting.

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But when I was a kid,
I was probably ten years old,

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and every day
I had to do the dishes at home.

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And there was this pot
and this pot had a really thick,

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black layer of burnt rice.

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Something came to mind and I said, okay,
if I want to clean this pot,

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I'm going to add bleach.

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Because bleach, you know, dissolved
stuff, stains and should help.

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So I had a couple of cups of bleach.

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Look at it.

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Nothing happened, of course.

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So I said, okay.

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Nothing happened. Such a disappointment.

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I decided to add a cup of muriatic acid
that is used to clean toilets.

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And then you know what happens, you know?

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Right. Okay.

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So when you mix bleach and muriatic acid,
chlorine gas is released.

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But in in great quantities,
a lot of it really fast.

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Really quick.

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And so I add the muriatic acid
and I see a lot of fumes coming out.

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So I left the pot there and ran upstairs.

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And then my grandparents,

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we got to leave the house
because we're going to die if we don't.

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When we came back,
the pot was all destroyed.

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I was like, What happened? That was great.

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That was crazy.

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I don't know what it was,
but that was cool.

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That's the first time
I think that I was a chemist,

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although I didn't know
that I was a chemist at that time.

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I definitely am a person
that doesn't give up.

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I don't take no for an answer.

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And as soon as I got to school, really,
I guess the summer after my freshman

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year,
I was applying for anything space related.

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Unfortunately,
I was unsuccessful many times

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I've counted it up in the number
that that I remember from that exercise

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was about 30 to 35 different applications

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over a few year period of just nothing.

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And then the second semester
of my junior year of college,

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I was accepted to a NASA internship.

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And so, sure enough,
that broke the barrier for me.

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I got an internship
that led to another internship.

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Now I'm here and get to live out my dream.

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I wear a lot of different hats
here at NASA, but my primary role

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right now is as the deputy project manager
for the Artemis Geology Tools.

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That means that along
with our project manager, I help to lead

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a team of people
who are building Moon tools.

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And so specifically the tools
that are going to take samples of the moon

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and bring them back to earth
so the scientists can study them for

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generations to come.

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I watched the Apollo videos many times

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and I see the video of the world
reacting to that accomplishment.

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And I just feel so much pride
and knowing that I get to be a part of it

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this time around is just it's so much fun.

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It makes every day
just seem like a dream Together,

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Jessica, Julie, Jose, and Adam

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are pieces of the Artemis puzzle.

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Each is a vital component of the team
working to accomplish

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the monumental task of exploring a world
beyond earth.

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You can't just do this

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with a geologist or you couldn't
just do this with an engineer.

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You really need a mix of people
to think about these challenges

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from all the different angles.

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And we have that team.

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These are our explorers,
the people who will get us to the moon,

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collect
moon rocks, deliver them to Earth safely,

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and ensure
that we can study them for years to come.

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By the time we get to the moon.

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We're going to have the best tools.

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We're going to have the best containers.

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We're going to have the best crew.

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And that's because everybody involved
really, really cares.

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And all of that is going to lead us
to the very best science we can do.

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Everybody's hard work ahead of time

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will make sure
that we have these excellent samples

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and that they're preserved for the long
term.

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Virtually everyone on Earth knows
the first words uttered from the

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surface of the moon.

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That's one

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small step for man, one

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giant leap for mankind.

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But not many people know that
the next words were all about science.

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The surface is fine and powdery.

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I can
I can pick it up loosely with my toe.

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It does adhere in fine layers

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like powdered charcoal.

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on the next episode of NASA's Explorers.

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Moon Rocks.

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What mysteries about the origins
of our Earth, Moon and Solar System?

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Can we unlock from a rock?