IRANIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN IS NASA ASTRONAUT
--SUPERS-- 00:15 Maj. Jasmin Moghbeli NASA Astronaut Candidate Yuma, Arizona :51 - 1:00 Courtesy of Jasmin Moghbeli 2:22 - 2:29 Houston, Texas NASA/June 7 3:01 - 3:08 Yuma, Arizona U.S. Marine Corps/April 7, 2016 --LEAD IN-- IMAGINE A WORLD SO CAPTIVATED BY SPACE TRAVEL THAT AN OLD BAG THAT HAD BEEN FULL OF MOON DUST SELLS FOR 1.8 MILLION DOLLARS. THAT"S THE PRICE IT FETCHED AT AUCTION THIS WEEK, FOR AN OWNER WHO PAID LESS THAN ONE-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THE BAG --WHICH HAD BEEN USED TO COLLECT MOON DUST BY NEIL ARMSTRONG --- THE FIRST MAN ON THE MOON IN 1969. NEARLY 50 YEARS LATER, WE IMAGINE ANOTHER FIRST FOR NASA -- THE FIRST PERSON OF MIDDLE EASTERN ORIGINS, REACHING IN TO THE COSMOS. IRANIAN-AMERICAN MARINE MAJOR JASMIN MOGHBELI JOINS NASA"S NEW CROP OF ASTRONAUTS, AND SPOKE WITH CNN"S CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR FROM A BUSY MILITARY BASE IN ARIZONA. --REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS-- MAJOR, WELCOME TO THE PROGRAM. >> THANK YOU. >> SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? YOU"RE ABOUT TO EMBARK ON, I BELIEVE, YOUR SPACE WALK TRAINING, OR YOUR SPACE TRAINING. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND WEEKS? >> SO FOR THE TRAINING WILL BE TWO YEARS LONG. AND THE BIG TOPICS THAT WE"LL COVER OVER THOSE TWO YEARS ARE 238 JET FLIGHT TRAINING, LEARNING THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SYSTEMS, LEARNING RUSSIAN, TRAINING IN ROBOTICS, AND THEN PROBABLY THE THING I"M MOST EXCITED ABOUT IS OUR TRAINING FOR SPACE WALKS, OR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN THE NEUTRAL LAB. >> HONESTLY, IT SOUNDS AMAZING, INCLUDING LEARNING RUSSIAN. BUT HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO WALK IN SPACE? >> YES. I, AT LEAST SINCE SIXTH GRADE, CAN REMEMBER, THIS IS MY DREAM TO BECOME AN ASTRONAUT. AND I THINK THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHERE, YOU KNOW, THAT"S BEEN IN THE FOREFRONT OF MY MIND AND TIME IN THE BACKGROUND. AND I FOCUSED MORE ON GETTING MY DEGREE OR WHATEVER IT WAS. BUT IT"S ALWAYS KIND OF SOMETHING THAT"S RESURFACED IN THE END. >> MAJOR, YOU ARE GERMAN VIA IRANIAN PARENTS. YOU WERE BORN IN GERMANY OF IRANIAN PARENTS. THE FIRST AMERICAN ASTRONAUT TO HAVE ROOTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU, ESPECIALLY, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE OF TRAVEL BANS, AND YOU KNOW WHAT"S GOING ON IN THE WORLD AROUND US. >> AS A YOUNG CHILD WHO WANTED TO BECOME AN ASTRONAUT, OR AS A YOUNG ADULT WHO DECIDED TO PURSUE A DEGREE IN ENGINEERING AND GO ON TO JOIN THE MARINE CORPS AND END UP HERE, IT"S NEVER SOMETHING I SPECIFICALLY THOUGHT ABOUT AS ANY SORT OF BARRIER OR OBSTACLE IN MY WAY. BUT NOW, ON THIS SIDE OF THINGS, I THINK I CAN RECOGNIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO GET OUT AND MAKE SURE THE NEXT GENERATION SEES MYSELF AND MY COLLEAGUES OF ALL DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, ALL DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES, SO THAT WE DON"T POTENTIALLY LOSE A FUTURE BRILLIANT MIND, BECAUSE THEY ASSUMED THAT, YOU KNOW, ONLY BOYS DO THIS JOB. OR ONLY PEOPLE DO THIS JOB. SO I THINK NOW ON THIS END, I CAN SENSE THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT. >> SO YOU FEEL A BIT LIKE A FLAG-WAVER FOR THE CAUSE. >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. I THINK IT"S VERY IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO SEE. YOU KNOW, THE MORNING OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT WHEN MYSELF AND MY CLASSMATES PUT ON OUR BLUE FLIGHT SUITS AND OUR FAMILY SAW US FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE DAUGHTER OF ONE OF MY CLASSMATES SAID, "MOMMIES CAN BE ASTRONAUTS TOO" AND I THINK THAT REALLY SAYS SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT MAKING SURE KIDS SEE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES, MALES, FEMALES, IN THESE FIELDS. AND IT"S SOMETHING THEY CAN DO TOO. >> YOU ARE BREAKING TERRITORY AND PUSHING BOUNDARIES AS A WOMAN. BUT YOU"VE ALSO DONE THAT BEFORE, EVEN THIS, IN A VERY MALE-DOMINATED FIELD. I MEAN, YOU STUDIED ENGINEERING AT M.I.T. YOU PLAYED IN A BASKETBALL TEAM. YOU HAVE BEEN FLYING HELICOPTER GUN SHIP MISSIONS IN AFGHANISTAN, THE COBRAS. DO YOU EVER FEEL THAT YOU WERE, YOU KNOW, A FISH OUT OF WATER, OR DO YOU THINK THOSE GENDER BARRIERS HAVE BEEN BROKEN DOWN SUFFICIENTLY NOW? >> YOU KNOW, I THINK WE CAN 1214:25:40;1014:27:40;17STILL WORK TOWARDS IMPROVING IN TERMS OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS STILL AN IMBALANCED RATIO OF MALES TO FEMALES IN MANY OF THOSE FIELDS, AS YOU JUST MENTIONED. THAT BEING SAID, ME PERSONALLY, I DON"T FEEL LIKE I EVER -- IT WAS EVER AN OBSTACLE FOR ME. ALL MY MALE COLLEAGUES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WELCOMING, AND THEY HAVE HELPED ME, AND I"VE TRIED TO HELP THEM IN TURN. >> DO YOU THINK ENOUGH GIRLS, AND I MEAN GIRLS, YOUNG GIRLS, ARE ON FIRE ABOUT SCIENCE AND ARE ENCOURAGED TO TAKE THE PATH THAT COULD LEAD TO WHERE YOU ARE OR EVEN BEYOND? >> AS A PILOT, I"VE DONE SOME WORK WITH S.T.E.M. PROGRAMS IN THE LOCAL AREAS, AND I CAN TELL YOU, YOUNG GIRLS ABSOLUTELY ARE. THAT BEING SAID, I THINK IT"S IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE WE MAINTAIN THAT AS THEY GET OLDER, AND THEY DON"T DISCREDIT CERTAIN CAREER FIELDS, BECAUSE THEY THINK MOSTLY ONLY MALES DO THAT. SO BUT AT A YOUNG AGE, I THINK THEY"RE EXCITED ABOUT THOSE THINGS. >> I CAN SEE THE EXCITEMENT AND HEAR IT IN YOUR VOICE. DO YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY WALK ON THE MOON, OR ANOTHER PLANET? I MEAN, THE MOON MAY BE PASSE. >> YOU CAN HEAR THE EXCITEMENT IN MY VOICE. YOU"RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW, WE"RE AT SUCH AN EXCITING TIME, WHERE WE"RE TALKING ABOUT GOING FURTHER IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM THAN WE"VE EVER GONE BEFORE. AND TO ME, LIKE I SAID, AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE EARTH IS JUST A TINY PLANET AND SOMETHING SO MUCH GREATER. AND IT IS NECESSARY FOR OUR SURVIVAL TO GO FURTHER, IN MY OPINION. THIS WON"T LAST FOREVER. AND SO -- IN ANY WAY I CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THAT, WHETHER THAT MEANS GOING TO THE MOON, MARS, SOMEWHERE ELSE, I"M EAGER AND VERY EXCITED TO DO SO. AND IT WOULD BE AN HONOR FOR ME. >> ALL RIGHT. GOOD LUCK TO YOU, MAJOR JAYSPEN, I APPRECIATE YOU JOINING US TODAY. >> THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE IT. -----END-----CNN.SCRIPT----- --KEYWORD TAGS-- SCIENCE SPACE NASA