For Randy Bresnik, being selected to command NASA's Artemis III mission is more than another trip to space.

The veteran astronaut, who has called the Houston area home for more than two decades, says the mission represents a crucial step in humanity's effort to venture beyond low Earth orbit and eventually send astronauts deeper into the solar system.

"We are taking humanity and working to stop being a single-planet species," Bresnik told KPRC 2 News after Tuesday's crew announcement at Johnson Space Center.