." From my earliest childhood, air travel had regularly spellbinded me. I lived out in the boonies as well as the fields, so I failed to have neighbors to go and have fun with. If I had not been operating, I was actually left to my personal gadgets, as well as commonly, I would certainly simply be captivated by the creatures and especially, the raptors that I would certainly observe." To me, they stood for a flexibility of some kind or yet another. These birds and also the sight they have-- they can easily take in a lot. Therefore, from that aspect on, I understood I intended to be actually involved in flight as well as air travel." I [enjoyed] all traits trip, all points spaceflight. I couldn't receive sufficient of it. I ended up being a devoted reader, whereas previously, I had not been a lot of a reader. I could not receive sufficient product to check out my heroes from trip and also space. They became my shining example and also the pathway that they took involved, at some point or an additional, a rather strenuous education as well as dedication to doing effectively academically, literally, or even athletically. Thus, I tossed myself in to that whole entire form of perspective." When I was helping the Flying force, I had the ability to soar and deal with plane that I will dream around, looking at in the publications Flying Week and Space Technology. Here they are actually, right facing me." ... Therefore, my profession has been actually as close as achievable to that of a trip exam developer. And after that, right on the heels of being actually astounded by climatic flight, doing work in individual spaceflight has set me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Principal Developer, NASA Engineering & Safety Facility, NASA's Ames Proving ground.Image Credit: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Browse through a few of our other Images of NASA.