SAN ANTONIO – Ask any Spurs fan, and they'll tell you the San Antonio Spurs are out of this world. On Saturday, NASA astronaut Lt. Col. Andrew Morgan made that statement anything but hyperbole.

Morgan will spend the next nine months living and working on the International Space Station -- with his Spurs jersey.

"I'll be doing a variety of experiments. I'll be performing maintenance both inside the International Space Station and also be conducting several space walks to maintain the outside of the space station, as well," Morgan said in an interview with the Spurs.

50 years to the day after Apollo 11 took the first man to the moon, @AstroDrewMorgan is taking the first Spurs jersey to space.



Morgan will spend the next nine months living and working on the @Space_Station.

#Apollo50 | #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/IvALNq6FJK — San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 20, 2019

Morgan, who grew up in San Antonio, explained that the team is particularly dear to him for its work with wounded veterans.

"That's special to me, and I know it's special to the city of San Antonio," Morgan said.

He said he believes the team's success on the court is a product of "the values and the culture of the team and rooted in the culture of San Antonio."

Morgan said he is proud to have a connection with the Alamo City.

"My father was an Air Force officer stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, and now in my military career, even as an astronaut, where I clinically practice emergency medicine is at Brook Army Medical Center," Morgan said.

Morgan is slated to return from space in February 2020.