I'M ESA ASTRONAUT MATTHIAS MAURER.
I WILL BE MISSION SPECIALIST
ON THE NASA SPACEX CREW-3 MISSION,
TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
I WAS BORN IN GERMANY.
I GREW UP THERE, AND FOR THE FIRST 20 YEARS,
I ACTUALLY STAYED IN, MORE OR LESS, THE SAME AREA.
I WAS AN AMBULANCE DRIVER FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS.
AND I ALSO FINANCED MY STUDIES, LATER ON,
BY WORKING ON THE WEEKEND.
I STUDIED TWO YEARS IN GERMANY, MATERIAL SCIENCE,
THEN I WENT FOR A YEAR TO THE
UK, STUDIED THEIR MATERIAL SCIENCE.
AND DISCOVERED HOW MUCH YOU CAN LEARN
WHILE BEING IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY.
THAT WAS A HUGE INSPIRATION FOR ME,
AND I DECIDED TO KEEP ON LEARNING MORE LANGUAGES,
AND CONTINUE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
IN 2008, ESA STARTED THE CALL FOR NEW ASTRONAUTS.
OUT 8,500 APPLICANTS,
ONLY 10 CANDIDATES
PASSED ALL THE TESTS AND WERE CONSIDERED
SUITABLE FOR ASTRONAUTS.
I WAS ONE OF THEM.
I WAS ALWAYS FASCINATED BY SPACE,
AND WHAT DOES AN ASTRONAUT ACTUALLY DO?
SO, AN ASTRONAUT WORKS WITH A LOT OF ENGINEERING STUFF,
WE DO SCIENCE IN SPACE,
WE WORK IN INTERNATIONAL TEAMS.
AND THE ADVENTURE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO LIVE,
AS ASTRONAUTS. AND THE COMBINATION
OF THESE FOUR FACTS: ENGINEERING ON THE EDGE
OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE,
SCIENCE, INTERNATIONAL TEAMS,
AND ADVENTURE.
THAT'S ONLY POSSIBLE AS AN ASTRONAUT.
I THINK CREW-3 IS
A KIND OF A ROOKIE CREW,
WITH ONLY ONE EXPERIENCED SPACE FLYER, TOM.
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND,
I DON'T FEEL LIKE THAT WE ARE ROOKIES AT ALL.
RAJA HAS A HUGE BACKGROUND IN FLYING.
KAYLA SHE HAS A HUGE BACKGROUND IN WORKING IN A VERY
DIFFICULT AND HIGHLY TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT.
I DON'T CONSIDER BOTH OF THEM ROOKIES.
I BELIEVE WE ARE AN EXTREMELY GOOD TEAM.
AND AFTER A FEW DAYS IN SPACE,
I THINK WE WILL BE THERE, AND IT WILL BE OUR ENVIRONMENT.
ONCE WE ARRIVE
ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION,
WE WILL RUN A LOT OF EXPERIMENTS.
MY FOCUS WILL BE LOTS OF EXPERIMENTS,
IN THE MATERIALS SCIENCE DOMAIN.
THE NAME OF MY MISSION IS COSMIC KISS,
IT'S A DECLARATION OF LOVE
TO SPACE, AND ESPECIALLY
TO THE TWO ONLY OASES THAT WE HAVE IN SPACE.
OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET EARTH,
AND THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
THE PATCH IS INSPIRED BY SKY DISC OF NEBRA.
IT'S A 4,000 YEAR OLD DISC
THAT WAS FOUND IN GERMANY.
AND IT SHOWS TO ME THAT
PEOPLE ALREADY 4,000 YEARS AGO
WATCHED THE NIGHT SKY
AND WERE FASCINATED WITH THE UNIVERSE.
AND THEY PROBABLY ASKED THE SAME
QUESTIONS THAT WE ASK OURSELVES.
HOW DID THE UNIVERSE START?
HOW DID LIFE COME TO OUR PLANET EARTH?
IS THERE LIFE SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE?
THERE'S A HUGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE,
IN EUROPE IN THE U.S.,
IN RUSSIA, IN CANADA, IN JAPAN.
ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT CONTRIBUTE
THAT HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT IS ACTUALLY POSSIBLE.
I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE
WHO HELPED ME TO ARRIVE AT THAT POINT THAT I'M TODAY.
I WOULD BE THINKING OF YOU WHEN I FLY TO SPACE.
AND I SEND ALL MY LOVE TO YOU
DOWN ON THE GROUND.
[MUSIC]