." Coming from my earliest youth, air travel had actually consistently captivated me. I survived in the boonies and the fields, so I didn't possess neighbors to go and also play with. If I wasn't working, I was actually delegated my own gadgets, and frequently, I will simply be actually captivated by the wildlife and also especially, the predators that I will view." To me, they exemplified an independence of some kind or even an additional. These birds and also the perspective they possess-- they may absorb a great deal. So, from that point on, I recognized I would like to be actually involved in tour and also aeronautics." I [appreciated] all points trip, all factors spaceflight. I could not get sufficient of it. I came to be a devoted reader, whereas in the past, I had not been a lot of an audience. I could not receive adequate material to review my heroes coming from tour and area. They became my role models as well as the path that they took involved, at some point or one more, a pretty thorough education and also devotion to doing well academically, actually, or athletically. Therefore, I tossed on my own into that whole entire type of frame of mind." When I was working for the Aviation service, I managed to fly and also focus on aircraft that I would certainly fantasize around, examining in the journals Aeronautics Full week and Area Modern Technology. Listed below they are actually, right before me." ... Therefore, my profession has actually been actually as close as feasible to that of a tour examination developer. And afterwards, precisely the heels of being spellbinded through atmospherical flight, working in individual spaceflight has actually placed me over the Moon.".-- Physician Donald Mendoza, Chief Engineer, NASA Engineering & Protection Facility, NASA's Ames Proving ground.Picture Credit History: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Browse through a few of our various other Images of NASA.