." From my earliest childhood years, air travel had actually constantly mesmerized me. I lived out in the boonies as well as the fields, so I didn't possess next-door neighbors to go and enjoy with. If I had not been working, I was delegated my own devices, and frequently, I would only be actually mesmerized by the wild animals and also particularly, the birds of prey that I would find." To me, they represented a freedom of some kind or even yet another. These birds and the sight they have-- they can absorb a lot. So, from that factor on, I understood I wanted to be actually associated with flight as well as air travel." I [enjoyed] all traits tour, all factors spaceflight. I could not obtain good enough of it. I became a serious visitor, whereas in the past, I had not been a lot of a viewers. I could not obtain sufficient component to review my heroes coming from trip as well as room. They became my good example as well as the path that they took included, eventually or even another, a fairly thorough education as well as commitment to carry out properly academically, actually, or athletically. Therefore, I threw myself into that whole entire kind of mindset." When I was helping the Aviation service, I had the ability to fly as well as work on airplane that I would certainly dream approximately, looking at in the publications Aviation Full week and Space Technology. Here they are actually, best facing me." ... Thus, my profession has been as close as feasible to that of a flight test engineer. And then, exactly on the heels of being actually captivated through climatic trip, working in individual spaceflight has placed me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Principal Engineer, NASA Design & Safety And Security Center, NASA's Ames .Photo Credit: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Look at several of our other Images of NASA.