." Coming from my earliest youth, air travel had consistently astounded me. I lived out in the boonies and the farmlands, so I didn't possess neighbors to go as well as play with. If I wasn't operating, I was delegated my own gadgets, and also usually, I will just be actually astounded by the wild animals as well as particularly, the raptorial birds that I would certainly observe." To me, they worked with a liberty of some kind or one more. These birds as well as the view they have-- they can take in so much. Therefore, from that point on, I recognized I would like to be actually involved in trip and also air travel." I [enjoyed] all things air travel, all points spaceflight. I couldn't get good enough of it. I became a passionate visitor, whereas in the past, I wasn't a lot of a reader. I could not obtain sufficient material to read about my heroes from trip and also area. They became my good example as well as the course that they took involved, at some time or an additional, a pretty strenuous education and learning and dedication to doing properly academically, literally, or even athletically. Therefore, I tossed on my own right into that whole sort of state of mind." When I was working with the Aviation service, I had the capacity to soar and also focus on aircraft that I would certainly dream around, considering in the publications Aeronautics Week and also Room Innovation. Here they are actually, best in front of me." ... Therefore, my profession has been actually as close as possible to that of an air travel exam engineer. And afterwards, exactly on the heels of being spellbinded through atmospherical air travel, functioning in individual spaceflight has placed me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Chief Developer, NASA Engineering & Protection Facility, NASA's Ames .Photo Debt: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Look at a number of our other Images of NASA.