." From my earliest youth, air travel had actually constantly captivated me. I survived in the boonies and the farmlands, so I really did not possess next-door neighbors to go as well as have fun with. If I wasn't operating, I was delegated my very own units, and frequently, I would just be actually captivated by the wildlife as well as specifically, the beast of preys that I will find." To me, they represented a flexibility of some kind or another. These birds and the perspective they have-- they can enjoy a great deal. So, coming from that factor on, I recognized I wished to be actually associated with trip and also aeronautics." I [enjoyed] all traits air travel, all traits spaceflight. I couldn't acquire enough of it. I ended up being a passionate visitor, whereas before, I wasn't a lot of a viewers. I couldn't acquire sufficient product to check out my heroes coming from flight as well as space. They became my role models and also the path that they took entailed, at some time or even another, a rather rigorous education and learning and also commitment to doing effectively academically, physically, or even athletically. So, I threw myself right into that entire kind of way of thinking." When I was actually benefiting the Flying force, I was able to soar and service aircraft that I would fantasize around, taking a look at in the journals Aviation Week and also Area Modern Technology. Right here they are actually, appropriate before me." ... Thus, my occupation has been as close as feasible to that of a flight examination engineer. And after that, precisely the heels of being actually spellbinded by atmospherical flight, operating in human spaceflight has put me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Principal Developer, NASA Engineering & Protection Center, NASA's Ames Research Center.Picture Credit Score: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Visit some of our various other Faces of NASA.