." From my earliest childhood, tour had regularly spellbinded me. I endured in the boonies as well as the farmlands, so I didn't have next-door neighbors to go and play with. If I wasn't working, I was actually delegated to my personal gadgets, as well as frequently, I will just be astounded due to the wild animals and especially, the birds of prey that I will see." To me, they represented an independence of some kind or even an additional. These birds and the perspective they have-- they can take in a lot. So, from that factor on, I recognized I desired to be actually associated with flight and also air travel." I [appreciated] all things trip, all things spaceflight. I could not receive good enough of it. I came to be a serious reader, whereas in the past, I had not been a lot of a reader. I could not get enough material to read about my heroes from trip and also room. They became my shining example and the road that they took involved, eventually or one more, a pretty extensive learning and dedication to accomplish well academically, literally, or even athletically. So, I threw on my own into that whole entire sort of mentality." When I was helping the Flying force, I managed to fly as well as work with airplane that I will fantasize approximately, checking out in the publications Aeronautics Week and Space Technology. Listed here they are, appropriate before me." ... Therefore, my job has actually been as close as possible to that of a tour examination engineer. And afterwards, directly on the heels of being captivated by climatic air travel, operating in individual spaceflight has placed me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Chief Designer, NASA Design & Security Facility, NASA's Ames .Picture Debt: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Take a look at several of our various other Images of NASA.