>> THE THING THAT'S ALWAYS
DRIVEN AND EXCITED ME
IS EXPLORATION IN GENERAL.
SO I THINK I'VE ALWAYS
BEEN ATTRACTED TO
THESE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS,
PLACES WHERE FEWER PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN, WHERE CONDITIONS
ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE HARSH,
A LITTLE BIT MORE RARE
AND REALLY EXTREME IN GENERAL.
I WENT TO THE ANTARCTIC
FIVE TIMES.
FOUR TIMES WAS FOR
MY PhD RESEARCH.
AND THE WORK THAT WE WERE
PURSUING THEN, IN THE ANTARCTIC
WAS LOOKING AT
THE DIVING PHYSIOLOGY
OF EMPEROR PENGUINS.
THEY USE THIS REALLY BIG DRILL
TO CREATE A WHOLE IN THE ICE.
AND SO YOU ENTER THE WATER
THROUGH THAT HOLE IN THE ICE.
THE FIRST TIME YOU GO DIVING
THROUGH THE SEA ICE HOLE,
YOU REALLY NEVER FORGET
THE FEELING.
THE WATER DOWN THERE IS
A CONSTANT NEGATIVE 2 CELSIUS,
SO 28 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
AND YOU CAN SEE RAYS OF LIGHT
COMING IN FROM ANY CRACK OR HOLE
ANYWHERE AROUND THE AREA.
AND THAT'S WHERE YOU START
REALIZING ALL OF THE COLOR
AND THE BEAUTY IN
THE ANTARCTIC IS.
IT'S JUST AN EXTRAORDINARY
EXPERIENCE, AND THE THINGS
THAT I SAW UNDERWATER THERE
IS DEFINITELY THE MOST
REMARKABLE AND EXCEPTIONAL
DIVING I'VE EVER HAD.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
WE USE FOR TRAINING FOR
SPACEFLIGHT FOR ASTRONAUTS
FROM ALL OF OUR PARTNER AGENCIES
IS TRAINING IN ANALOGS.
SO IF YOU TRY TO THINK
WHAT-WHAT ARE USEFUL TRAINING
PLATFORMS ON THE EARTH?
HOW DO WE REPLICATE
ALL OF THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A SPACE MISSION?
ONE OF THE ANALOGS THAT
THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
DEVELOPED IS CALLED CAVES,
AND IT'S A TECHNICAL
CAVING MISSION.
SO THE CAVES TRAINING MISSION
WAS IN THIS VERY EXTRAORDINARY
CAVE IN SARDINIA.
SO YOU WOULD SOMETIMES
BE CRAWLING THROUGH A HOLE
THAT WHEN YOU SEE IT IN
THE DISTANCE, YOU DON'T THINK
THERE'S NO WAY THAT YOU CAN
EVEN FIT THROUGH THAT.
YOU KNOW, ONE AT A TIME,
WE WOULD TAKE OFF OUR PACKS
AND SORT OF SHIMMY
LIKE A SNAKE THROUGH
THESE TINY, TINY LITTLE HOLES.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN,
YOU WOULD COME OUT INTO
THIS ROOM, THIS CATHEDRAL,
WITH A 100 METER GRANITE WALL.
AND IT WAS REALLY
JUST EXTRAORDINARY.
AND THEN WE WOULD GO
ON DAILY EXCURSIONS,
DOING SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS,
EXPLORING, MAPPING THE CAVE.
SO ALL REALLY SIMILAR THINGS
THAT WE WOULD DO WHEN WE FINALLY
GET TO THE POINT OF EXPLORING
ANOTHER PLANET, FOR EXAMPLE,
AS ASTRONAUTS.
AND THEN ALSO EMPHASIZING
ALL THE OTHER SKILLS
THAT WE USE ON
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
THE OTHER CONNECTION THAT'S
REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME IS
THAT ALL OF THESE ENVIRONMENTS
INVOLVE NATURAL PHENOMENON
ON OUR PLANET, SO IT ALL GOES
BACK TO MY INTEREST IN BIOLOGY,
LOOKING AT THIS REMARKABLE
DIVERSITY IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
WITH MY PREVIOUS RESEARCH,
EXPLORING ALL OF THESE AMAZING
LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS
ON OUR PLANET.
AND THEN EVENTUALLY,
WHEN I HAVE THE MOST
EXTRAORDINARY OF ANY VIEW,
WHEN I'LL BE ON
THE SPACE STATION
IN A COUPLE MONTHS,
LOOKING DOWN AND SEEING
THIS MAGNIFICENT PLANET EARTH
AND SEEING THE BEAUTY
OF OUR PLANET AND REALLY
UNDERSTANDING HOW SPECIAL IT IS
AND HOW FRAGILE IT IS
AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS
TO PROTECT IT, TO TAKE
GOOD CARE OF OUR HOME PLANET,
TO PROTECT OUR OCEANS,
TO PROTECT THE LAND,
AND TO BE REALLY A GOOD STEWARD
IN OUR UNIVERSE.
[ MUSIC ]
I'M JESSICA MEIR.
I'M A SCIENTIST
AND A NASA ASTRONAUT.
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