00:00I absolutely credit my father for my love of science and technology, engineering, and math.
00:07He supported me in everything that I wanted to do as a kid.
00:10Both my parents did, but my dad in particular.
00:13He knew that I wanted to be an explorer and run around in the woods and fish and fly airplanes,
00:20and he never told me that I couldn't do that.
00:22He was always very supportive.
00:24He enrolled me in the Civil Air Patrol because he knew I liked military aviation.
00:30He always talked to me about science and mathematics when he came home from work
00:35and was showing me the things that he did as far as his love for mathematics.
00:41And so he just really supported me in everything that I wanted to do as a kid,
00:46and that gave me the encouragement and, you know, really the vision to move forward to become a scientist and now an astronaut.
01:00You know, one of the things I'm most proud of is the fact that I'm going to be the first black female pilot of a spacecraft
01:08and the first black female civilian astronaut.
01:12And what that does for me is it helps to inspire other people.
01:17I know when I was a kid that there wasn't a lot of role models in the space industry.
01:22We have, you know, Dr. Mae Jameson, who I admire and look up to and finally got to meet.
01:30But when you look at the history of black women in space, there's only been three African-American females who have gone to space in the United States.
01:40And out of those three, only one has gone multiple times.
01:44And so I feel like we have been ignored to some extent in the space sector.
01:50And so and I think a big part of that is representation matters.
01:54We need to see more women of color in space doing science and, you know, technology, mathematics, all of those things, but in a very visible way.
02:05And I'm hoping that with the inspiration for a mission, I will be able to inspire women of color around the world to think of pursuing a career in space exploration.
02:18Space to inspire is this motto that I've had for a long time about, you know, how do you use your unique space to inspire those within your reach and beyond?
02:28And so when I say space to inspire, people immediately think that I'm thinking about outer space.
02:33Well, for me, that is my space to inspire.
02:36But we are all so unique and we have unique talents and gifts and passions.
02:41And so how do you use your unique space, this space that you inhabit, to inspire those around you and to reach for your dreams, whatever they may be?
02:52My whole life, I have been an explorer, thanks to my parents and particularly my dad.
02:57But what that has done for me, it's made me kind of like a modern day Renaissance woman.
03:03I dabble in a lot of things, but my core is geology or geoscience.
03:08So I've been a geology professor at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona for over 20 years.
03:15I teach classes like physical geology and the science of disasters, but I also teach sustainability and sustainable worlds.
03:22And so for me, all of the things that I've done in my life when it comes to going on expeditions as a NOAA teacher at sea or a astronomy in Chile educator ambassador or living in a moon or Mars simulation for four months, you know, investigating food strategies for long duration space flight.
03:42All of these things that I've done have led me to this moment, including getting my pilot's license when I was 36 years old and also becoming SCUBA certified.
03:55And so this whole idea of having a love of getting out there and exploring our world and sharing it with, you know, those around me has enabled me to get this unique opportunity to go to space.
04:07And I do want to say that what's cool about it now is in the last year during COVID, I became a space artist and I, my art really centralizes on Afrofuturism and thinking about how, you know, what is the black narrative going to be in space?
04:27And luckily through my art and poetry, I entered the inspiration for prosperity seat contest on Twitter and I won that.
04:36And that is now why I'm going to space.
04:39And so that whole idea of creativity and using your passions and sharing them with the world is really how you can, you know, have this amazing career that you never ever imagined would be possible.
04:52Once we finished our fighter jet training, you know, it's a tradition to get a call sign.
05:00And so what's great about my call sign, which I love Leo is my, my crewmates.
05:06They gave me that call sign because they said I was a modern day, you know, Renaissance woman, a Leonardo, Leonardo da Vinci of our times.
05:17And I just love that because Leonardo da Vinci was all about science and technology, engineering and math, but also the arts.
05:26And so me combining everything together is why they call me Leo.
05:31As a black woman in STEM, it's been really challenging.
05:37There have not been any role models for me.
05:39I haven't had a single black female science teacher in my entire career.
05:44We're talking K all the way through higher ed and I have my PhD.
05:50So you can imagine that I've gone to school for a long time and not having any, you know, representation.
05:57And so it's all about opening up the door and breaking barriers and being the first.
06:03And so when you're the first, it's a lonely place to be.
06:06A lot of times the people who are the gatekeepers don't want to let you in and you really have to have persistence, resiliency, grit, determination to not only just open that door, but to open it so that others can follow behind you.
06:23And so, you know, when I think about what I'm doing now as the first black female pilot of a spacecraft, I'm hoping that that will inspire other women of color to think about becoming pilots and, you know, maybe stepping on the moon or Mars in their future.
06:41And so representation really does matter.
06:45So I lived in a Mars simulation for four months that was funded by NASA to investigate food strategies for long duration space flight.
06:56And during that time, I was the science, science educator slash communicator outreach officer.
07:02And I thought, well, what better way to talk about food and the role food plays in not only our world, just in general, but in space exploration was through running my own show called Meals for Mars.
07:18And from that, I created a cookbook that's called Meals for Mars.
07:22And what it does is it talks about how we can use freeze dried fruits, meats and vegetables to, you know, eat sustainably in space.
07:30But also thinking about how that technology can be used back here on Earth.
07:34As a geoscientist, there's no better place than planet Earth.
07:38And so when I think about solving for space, you know, all of the technology of making space habitable in energy and water and food and shelter.
07:48Well, all of that technology can be applied here on Earth to make us more sustainable and and really help solve some of the problems that we have here.
07:58And so a lot of times people think, oh, if you're going out into space exploration, you're not focused on Earth.
08:04But really, all of that technology that we do in space helps us here on Earth and it makes us better in the long run.
08:13And so I lived in this Mars simulation for four months and I was eating like a Martian and it was a wonderful experience.
08:21And I feel like it really has prepared me for three days on orbit because in the high seas habitat, it was a small habitat and there are six of us.
08:31And now going to space, we have our dragon capsule and there's four of us and that's going to be our home for the three days on orbit.
08:38You know, the biggest thing that I want to conquer after I come back from space is really being that role model for women of color, you know, girls of color around the world and inspire them to think big.
08:54You know, I'm I'm I'm getting I'm achieving my dream at 51.
08:58So when I was a little girl, you know, with six, seven, eight, talking to my dad, seeing the Neil Armstrong autograph to him, thanking him for his help during the Apollo 11 missions and dreaming about my own trip out into space.
09:12You know, I I would have never thought that it would have taken me almost 50 years to get there.
09:18But here I am. And that's you know, that's when perseverance and grit and determination and not giving up is so important.
09:25And a lot of times we think that when we get in our 40s and 50s and 60s, that, you know, our career or those aspirations we had when we were younger have slipped by and that we won't be able to to do them or achieve them.
09:40And and that's not the case. I'd like to think that I'm an example of that.
09:46One of the things that's really important to me is that as I go to space that I'm able to inspire others.
09:53And so I took some of my art and I created this unique patch called a Jedi space.
09:59So the chasing the dream is an homage to Martin Luther King and and the whole idea of that we are chasing our dreams.
10:07And then a Jedi space stands for a just, equitable, diverse and inclusive space.
10:13So as we write the narrative of human spaceflight, it's really important that we strive for a Jedi space so that all of humanity comes along as we journey into the stars.
10:23One of the things that I really love most about our mission is that we are raising two hundred million dollars for St.
10:32Jude Children's Research Hospital to try and end childhood cancer.
10:36And and that's something that me and my crewmates are really passionate about.
10:41Our my crewmate Haley Arsenault is a survivor of childhood cancer.
10:45And so you can get involved by going to our website, inspiration for dot com, or you can follow us on Twitter and on Instagram or on Facebook to learn more about our mission, which will be launching into orbit September 15th.
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