." From my earliest childhood, trip had actually consistently captivated me. I lived out in the boonies and the fields, so I failed to have next-door neighbors to go and play with. If I wasn't operating, I was actually entrusted to my personal units, and also frequently, I would just be actually captivated due to the wildlife and also in particular, the predators that I would certainly observe." To me, they represented a liberty of some kind or even one more. These birds and the view they have-- they may enjoy a lot. So, from that point on, I understood I intended to be associated with tour and also flying." I [delighted in] all traits tour, all traits spaceflight. I could not get enough of it. I came to be a serious reader, whereas before, I wasn't much of an audience. I could not get sufficient material to read about my heroes from trip and also area. They became my good example as well as the pathway that they took involved, eventually or an additional, a rather thorough learning as well as devotion to carry out effectively academically, literally, or athletically. Thus, I tossed on my own right into that whole sort of attitude." When I was working for the Flying force, I was able to soar and service airplane that I would fantasize about, taking a look at in the journals Aeronautics Full week as well as Space Technology. Here they are actually, right facing me." ... Thus, my occupation has been actually as close as feasible to that of a tour test engineer. And afterwards, directly on the heels of being actually spellbinded by atmospherical air travel, functioning in individual spaceflight has put me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Chief Engineer, NASA Design & Safety Center, NASA's Ames Proving ground.Image Credit: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Take a look at a few of our other Images of NASA.