1- Hi, it's Danni.
2Have you ever looked at the moon and wondered, "What would it be like to go there?"
3In 1969, astronauts set out to visit the moon for the first time.
4People around the world were excited and nervous.
5Could they do it?
6It was a daring plan...
7and it worked.
8The first person walked on the moon.
9And millions of people all over the world watched and cheered.
10It was an incredible moment in history.
11And now a new group of astronauts are preparing to reach the moon.
12They're part of the Artemis program.
13Artemis astronauts plan to live on the moon for almost a week.
14It'll be the first time anyone has tried that
15and it's happening in your lifetime.
16You will get to see history as it happens.
17Someone named Sophia has a question about space.
18Let's give Sophia a call now.
19Hi, Danni.
20- Hi, Sophia.
21I have a question for you.
22How do astronauts get ready for space?
23Great question!
24While this Artemis moon landing is still years away,
25astronauts are already preparing,
26like Astronaut Jessica Watkins.
27Jessica Watkins is a scientist
28who studies rocks and rocky planets like Mars.
29She went through intense training to become an astronaut
30and now, she's already spent more than 150 days in space.
31Jessica Watkins has handled all kinds of challenges in space
32from fixing machines to growing food,
33but this new trip to the moon will have big challenges.
34No one has lived on the moon for six days before.
35You might already know some of the ways the moon is different from Earth.
36For one, there's no air to breathe.
37Astronauts need to wear special suits with oxygen.
38There's also very little gravity to hold astronauts down.
39They need to get used to moving their bodies in new ways.
40So how do astronauts get ready for such a different place?
41I'm curious, what do you think?
42If you were an astronaut, what would help you get ready to work on the moon?
43A lot goes into getting ready for the moon,
44but some of it's similar to how you might get ready for a soccer game or a concert.
45Astronauts practice.
46To practice, astronauts need some place on Earth that's like the moon,
47someplace with no air to breathe,
48where their bodies will be weightless and floaty.
49Can you think of a place like that?
50Well, here's one of my favorite places.
51Exploring underwater makes me feel like an astronaut.
52Maybe you've had the same floaty experience.
53It turns out real astronauts practice underwater too.
54Here's astronaut Jessica Watkins in her spacesuit.
55On land, it's heavy,
56but underwater, it feels weightless.
57She can practice moving and breathing in her suit the way it would feel on the moon.
58And check this out,
59it's a training station in the ocean.
60This is where Jessica Watkins and her crew mates lived for over a week underwater.
61There's not much room inside.
62Everyone has to work together to stay safe and get jobs done.
63It's a lot like being in space.
64That's why practicing teamwork skills is an important part of how astronauts get ready.
65Now look at this.
66It's another place astronauts go to practice for the moon.
67Doesn't it look like another planet?
68But it's a desert in the US state of Arizona.
69Here, astronauts get ready for what it will be like doing different jobs on the moon.
70They often practice at night
71and shine lights that create confusing shadows to make it look even more like the moon.
72Jobs that seem simple, like collecting rocks, need step-by-step planning and special tools.
73I mean, watch this.
74This is a real video of an astronaut on the moon in 1972.
75He's trying to use a hammer,
76but it's hard to hang onto.
77He accidentally dropped it.
78And do you see the problem?
79Now he can't pick it up
80because the spacesuit doesn't bend.
81To plan ahead for problems like this,
82astronauts work with scientists and engineers to test out tools being created for the moon.
83They try everything
84from a scoop for collecting rocks,
85to a vehicle that could be the astronauts' home as they explore the moon on future trips.
86Astronauts spent a week living in a test vehicle.
87It mostly worked well, except the toilet system got seriously smelly.
88But that's what practice is for.
89It's much better to fail on Earth than on the moon.
90The team can fix and improve things here
91and not 240,000 miles away from home.
92When it's finally time to head into space,
93Jessica Watkins and her fellow astronauts will be ready.
94All that practice will help them accomplish big things.
95They plan to travel farther into space than any humans have gone before
96to visit an unexplored part of the moon.
97And through future Artemis missions,
98the first woman and first person of color could walk on the moon.
99That's an important step forward.
10060 years ago when America's first astronauts were selected,
101women and people of color were unfairly excluded.
102Back then, Jessica Watkins and many of her teammates
103would not have had the opportunity to become astronauts,
104but now they're ready to make history.
105And you can follow in their footsteps.
106This Artemis moon mission is practiced for even bigger plans
107like building a station on the moon
108and someday, sending people to Mars.
109This is one small step into our solar system.
110There's so much more out there
111and it will take the teamwork of our entire human family to explore it.
112Future history makers like you have the potential to make big things happen.