Hispanic men and women paving the way in the Space Program

CHRISTINA: I LOVE IT. IT’S AN OUT OF THIS WORLD INDUSTRY, BUT IT TAKES PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE SPACE PROGRAM. STEWART: OF COURSE. IN CELEBRATION OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, WESH 2’S MEGAN MELLADO SPOKE TO LEADERS AT NASA WHO ARE MAKING HISTORY. MEGAN: IT’S BEEN A BIG YEAR FOR SPACE EXPLORATION, BUT THE LAUNCHES AND MISSIONS WOULDN’T BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE TEAM MEMBERS BEHIND THEM, MANY OF WHICH ARE FROM PLACES LIKE COLOMBIA AND PUERTO RICO. WE SPOKE TO SOME OF THE HISPANIC MEN AND WOMEN HELPING US GET TO THE MOON AND BEYOND. >> I’M ORIGINALLY FROM ISABELA, PUERTO RICO. >> I WAS BORN IN CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA. >> MY PARENTS GREW UP IN PUERTO RICO, SPECIFICALLY SAN GERMAN. >> I WAS BORN IN MIAMI BUT MY PARENTS ARE FROM VENEZUELA. >> I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN PUERTO RICO. I GREW UP IN A TOWN CALLED CAMUY, PUERTO RICO. I PRIMARILY SUPPORT OUR DIRECTOR, OUR PROGRAM MANAGER, AND OUR DEPUTY PROGRAM MANAGER IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL THE PLANS IN SUPPORT OF THE ARTEMIS MISSION. I’VE BEEN IN THIS POSITION FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS. I’VE BEEN WITH NASA FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS. >> I WORK WITH DEEP SPACE LOGISTICS WHICH IS ONE OF THE , VEHICLES THAT’LL BE PART OF THE GATEWAY THAT WILL TAKE SUPPLIES AND EXPERIMENTS TO THE LUNAR STATION. I’VE BEEN WITH NASA FOR 15 YEARS AND I’VE BEEN WITH DEEP SPACE LOGISTICS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE MISSION SO THAT’S PRETTY NEAT. >> I’VE BEEN A TEST DIRECTOR SINCE 2006, SO IT’S BEEN QUITE SOME TIME. I GOT TO FLY THE LAST 25 SPACE SHUTTLE MISSIONS OR SO. I ALSO WAS A LAUNCH DIRECTOR FOR THE AIR FORCE, I WAS A RESERVIST BACK THEN AND I GOT TO FLY A LOT OF MISSIONS ON DELTA 4, ATLAS 5, AND SPACEX MISSIONS. ALWAYS WAS INTERESTED IN BUILDING THINGS AND WHATNOT, AND IT WAS A NATURAL PROGRESSION TO GO INTO ENGINEERING AND EVENTUALLY DOING SOMETHING WITHIN THE SPACE BUSINESS. >> WITH NASA, TECHNICALLY 15 YEARS, HERE AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, 22 YEARS. >> I WANTED TO ALWAYS BE AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER SINCE I WENT TO THE VISITORS CENTER WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND WANTED TO BE AN ASTRONAUT. SO HERE I AM, I MEAN I WAS REALLY, REALLY LUCKY I WAS AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. DIDN’T BECOME AN ASTRONAUT, BUT CLOSE ENOUGH. >> WE’RE ON THE CATWALK RIGHT NOW, THIS IS THE UPPER LEVEL OF THE CRAWLER. THIS IS WHERE WE MONITOR OUR STEERING, OUR HYDRAULICS RIGHT HERE. SOMETIMES WE COME OUT HERE, WE DO OPERATIONAL CHECKS, WE RUN MOTORS, ENGINES, SUBSYSTEMS. WE ALSO FOR A GOOD PORTION OF OUR JOB SUPPORT THE OPERATIONS OF THE INTEGRATED FLIGHT SYSTEMS BEST KNOWN FOR BRINGING THE ARTEMIS I ROCKET FROM THE VAB, TAKING IT DOWN THE 4.5 MILE TREK UP TO THE PAD. IT’S CALLED A CRAWLER FOR A REASON, IT’S NOT A FAST VEHICLE. IT TAKES — TRAVEL TIME FROM OUTSIDE THE VAB TO PAD SLOPE, WE AVERAGE 7 TO 8 HOURS BUT IF YOU’RE TALKING ENTIRE OPERATION TIME WE’RE TALKING PROBABLY CLOSER TO MAYBE 16 TO 20 HOURS. IT’S A HUGE VEHICLE. IT’S 20 TO 26 FEET HIGH DEPENDING ON OUR LEVEL, IT’S 131 FEET LONG, 114 FEET WIDE, AND IT’S 6.5 MILLION POUNDS, SO DRIVING IT IS A VERY UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. I CAN’T REALLY COMPARE IT TO ANY SINGLE THING. >> I LOVE THE FACT I AM HISPANIC. WHEN I’M IN MEETINGS, I GET VERY PASSIONATE, I AM LIKE IT IS BECAUSE I’M HISPANIC. >> IT’S AN HONOR FOR ME TO REPRESENT THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY AND AS PART OF MY JOB I GET THE CHANCE TO TALK TO HISPANIC STUDENTS ALL OVER THE NATION AND SHARE THE ARTEMIS STORY. >> I HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN HISPANICS WHO HAVE COME BEFORE ME AND THERE WILL HOPEFULLY BE MANY THAT COME AFTER ME. SO I TRY TO LEAD BY THAT EXAMPLE AND WORK TO THE BEST OF MY CAPABILITIES AND BE PART OF A SUCCESSFUL SPACE PROGRAM. MEGAN: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MOST REWARDING PART? >> TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATI

Hispanic Heritage Month: Hispanic men and women paving the way in the Space Program

Updated: 10:14 AM CDT Oct 11, 2022

It’s been a big year for space exploration, but the launches and missions wouldn’t be possible without the team members behind them, many of whom are from places like Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Sister station WESH spoke with some of the Hispanic men and women helping us get to the moon and beyond, including senior NASA Test Director Danny Zeno; NASA Landing and Recovery director, Liliana Villarreal; electrical engineer with the Crawler Transporter Group, Daniel Zapata; Exploration Ground Systems chief of staff, Sasha Sims; and Kat Vasquez with Gateway’s Deep Space Logistics Project. Watch the video above for more on this story.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. —

It’s been a big year for space exploration, but the launches and missions wouldn’t be possible without the team members behind them, many of whom are from places like Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Sister station WESH spoke with some of the Hispanic men and women helping us get to the moon and beyond, including senior NASA Test Director Danny Zeno; NASA Landing and Recovery director, Liliana Villarreal; electrical engineer with the Crawler Transporter Group, Daniel Zapata; Exploration Ground Systems chief of staff, Sasha Sims; and Kat Vasquez with Gateway’s Deep Space Logistics Project.

Watch the video above for more on this story.