." Coming from my earliest childhood, air travel had regularly astounded me. I endured in the boonies and also the farmlands, so I really did not have neighbors to go and enjoy with. If I wasn't functioning, I was entrusted to my personal gadgets, and also commonly, I would simply be spellbinded due to the creatures and specifically, the birds of prey that I will observe." To me, they represented a flexibility of some kind or yet another. These birds and the viewpoint they possess-- they may absorb so much. Therefore, from that factor on, I knew I intended to be actually involved in tour and also air travel." I [delighted in] all things tour, all traits spaceflight. I could not receive good enough of it. I ended up being a serious visitor, whereas previously, I wasn't a lot of a visitor. I could not obtain sufficient product to check out my heroes from air travel as well as space. They became my role models and the pathway that they took involved, eventually or even one more, a rather extensive learning as well as dedication to carry out well academically, literally, or even athletically. Thus, I tossed on my own in to that whole entire kind of state of mind." When I was working with the Air Force, I had the capacity to soar and also focus on aircraft that I would certainly fantasize approximately, taking a look at in the publications Aeronautics Week and also Area Technology. Below they are actually, correct in front of me." ... Thus, my occupation has actually been as close as feasible to that of a trip test engineer. And after that, directly on the heels of being actually astounded by atmospheric flight, doing work in human spaceflight has actually put me over the Moon.".-- Doctor Donald Mendoza, Principal Engineer, NASA Design & Safety And Security Facility, NASA's Ames .Image Debt: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Have a look at a few of our other Faces of NASA.