." Coming from my earliest youth, flight had regularly mesmerized me. I survived in the boonies and also the fields, so I really did not have next-door neighbors to go as well as have fun with. If I wasn't operating, I was actually delegated to my very own gadgets, and often, I will simply be spellbinded by the animals and especially, the predators that I will find." To me, they stood for a liberty of some kind or even one more. These birds as well as the scenery they have-- they can easily absorb a great deal. Therefore, coming from that factor on, I knew I wished to be actually associated with flight and aeronautics." I [taken pleasure in] all things flight, all points spaceflight. I could not acquire good enough of it. I became an enthusiastic visitor, whereas in the past, I wasn't a lot of an audience. I couldn't acquire enough material to review my heroes from tour as well as area. They became my shining example as well as the path that they took involved, eventually or yet another, a fairly extensive learning and also devotion to carry out well academically, physically, or even athletically. Therefore, I tossed on my own right into that whole entire form of way of thinking." When I was actually helping the Aviation service, I had the ability to fly as well as focus on plane that I would certainly hope around, looking at in the publications Air travel Week and Area Innovation. Here they are, right facing me." ... Therefore, my job has been actually as close as possible to that of a trip test designer. And afterwards, precisely the heels of being actually spellbinded through climatic trip, functioning in human spaceflight has put me over the Moon.".-- Doctor Donald Mendoza, Chief Engineer, NASA Engineering & Protection Center, NASA's Ames Research Center.Graphic Credit Rating: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Take a look at several of our various other Faces of NASA.