." Coming from my earliest youth, flight had actually constantly mesmerized me. I lived out in the boonies and also the farmlands, so I really did not possess next-door neighbors to go as well as enjoy with. If I wasn't operating, I was actually delegated my personal tools, and also commonly, I would simply be captivated by the wildlife as well as specifically, the raptors that I will observe." To me, they stood for an independence of some kind or one more. These birds and also the sight they have-- they can easily take in so much. So, from that aspect on, I knew I desired to be actually involved in air travel and also aviation." I [taken pleasure in] all points air travel, all traits spaceflight. I couldn't obtain enough of it. I came to be an enthusiastic reader, whereas previously, I wasn't much of a reader. I could not acquire adequate material to check out my heroes coming from air travel and also area. They became my role models and also the path that they took involved, at some time or yet another, a rather strenuous learning and devotion to accomplish well academically, actually, or even athletically. So, I tossed on my own in to that whole entire kind of way of thinking." When I was helping the Aviation service, I had the capacity to soar and also work with airplane that I would certainly fantasize around, looking at in the journals Aviation Full week and Area Innovation. Here they are actually, right facing me." ... So, my career has been actually as close as feasible to that of a flight examination designer. And afterwards, exactly on the heels of being actually spellbinded through climatic air travel, functioning in human spaceflight has placed me over the Moon.".-- Dr. Donald Mendoza, Principal Developer, NASA Design & Safety And Security Facility, NASA's Ames Proving ground.Image Credit Report: NASA/Dominic HartInterviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos.Browse through some of our other Faces of NASA.