00:00
My name is Vanessa Hernandez and welcome to my podcast astronauts
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This is our first ever episode and we have a very special guest
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My dad Jose Hernandez, who is a former NASA astronaut.
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He inspired this entire podcast.
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So I'm really excited to talk about his story and how inspiring
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it is and I hope you enjoy it too.
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All right, let's get started.
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Welcome to my podcast astronaut's daughter.
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I am very excited, but as a parent, I'm very proud.
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Uh I'm not gonna make me cry.
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No, I mean, and, and very honored because, because I'm your
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I'm just to give everyone a little bit of background just on
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us as you know, father, daughter.
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And how kind of we got our start.
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I actually started on Tik Tok and when I started on tiktok,
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you had no idea what the platform was, what you were signing
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But it was, I think Pink quarantine where I wanted to just make
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goofy videos with you and introduce you and kind of use your
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story to share with others and it just really hit and kind of
01:29
took off and it was a great way to share one year story and two
01:33
just to show our relationship and how lighthearted and goofy
01:38
And so it kind of built up to this and now we're here on this podcast
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and I'm really excited to just kind of deep dive into your story
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more because the thing about tiktok, it's so fast and it's
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so quick and the span of people's attention attention spans
01:55
are so short and so we can only get them like quickly.
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Um So having a platform like this to really get into the nitty
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gritty of your story of becoming an astronaut from your background
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And you know, how you got there from A to B you know, you know
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don't, don't sell yourself short because uh because you're
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very surgical with your tiktok messaging.
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So I always uh play, play a good, you know, I, I am a good sports
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fan and uh and so yeah, I'll do whatever.
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Yeah, it's really fun and I love how you're a good sport about
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it because you will never say no an idea I have.
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So I kind of take advantage of that just a little bit to kind
02:32
of push your buttons.
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But um going back to the podcast and you know why we're here
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Um Do you want to give a little bit of background of, you know
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who you are what you do, what you're most known for, obviously
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And, you know, we'll just get into it.
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Well, you know, I'm first generation, as, you know, Mexican
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My parents came from Mexico and there's four of us in our family
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You know, you have two uncles and an aunt and half of us were
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born here and half in Mexico.
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And that was because we used to spend about nine months here
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in California and uh and three months in Mexico when my mom
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and dad got married, that's what they would do.
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They would go back to their hometown for three months.
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And I just happened to be uh born in August, which is uh harvest
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So I was born in California and, and uh ever since I was 10 years
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old, I want to be an astronaut because I remember seeing the
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very last Apollo mission, Apollo 17.
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It was in December and you could picture a 10 year old boy holding
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on to rabbit ear antennas watching a black and white TV.
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Uh And watching astronaut Gene Cernan wanna be uh walking
03:37
on the moon and I said I wanna be like him and, and I did it and
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I did it and, and, and, and now we're here and then Twitter was
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also coming around because I flew in 2009.
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And so Twitter was around uh a few missions before I flew.
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So, uh I don't have the honor of being the first one to tweet
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Um but I, I do have the honor of being the first one to tweet in
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Spanish that talk about, about an NFT in the making the first
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tweet in Spanish that I'm gonna wrap up with the bull and maybe
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make some, uh maybe make some money out of it.
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But we'll see, that's funny.
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You have a very unique story and I think that's why people are
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so curious about you and where you come from and we're gonna
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really get into the cool stories and really how you got to where
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I think that's going to inspire a lot of people and that's why
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people are so curious about you and curious about your stories
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I mean, I see it on tiktok all the time.
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I get people asking me so many questions, so many, you know
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space astronaut related just stem related field questions
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that, you know, hopefully by the end of this podcast, everyone
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will get something out of it and we'll learn a little bit more
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about what it means to even actually be an astronaut.
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What, what does the job entail, what are the, you know, technical
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And also like the training, the education, you know, because
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like you said you were a little kid, I nine or 10, 10 years old
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dreaming to be an astronaut, but actually to make it happen
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and turn that dream into a reality, I think that's what people
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really want to hear is ok.
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What are those steps do I need to take to get me there?
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And so I'm really excited we're going to touch on a little bit
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of that past what you're doing now and what, you know, you plan
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to do in the future.
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I think a lot of people have just so much curiosity about you
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and I'm, I'm glad to be able to do that here on this podcast with
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And what I try to sell, Vanessa is because I give a lot of motivational
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conferences and that's exactly what I try to sell.
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I, I tell people my story uh for the purpose of having them relate
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to a normal person because I'm no genius, but I am a hard worker
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and I always tell people if you have a plan and you're willing
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I mean, we live in a country where you can reach the American
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dream and I was blessed to be able to reach the ultimate American
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dream, which was to go up into space.
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But like you said, a lot of hard work went into it and we'll take
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a deep dive into the, to what it entailed.
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But yes, I'm very excited to be here and tell my story.
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So I really want to talk about the present.
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What are you doing right now?
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Personally, I'd love to hear it all.
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Well, I'm doing a lot of things.
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Now, as you know, I keep myself busy all the time, I have a engineering
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consulting firm where I do aerospace consulting.
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One of the biggest projects I worked in is helping Mexico uh
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buy three communication satellites and launching them into
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I've also spent my time writing books uh about my experiences
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So I wrote my autobiography, Reaching For the Stars.
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And then the publisher asked me to write a children's book
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And so I, I wrote the, the, the book, the boy who touched the
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Stars and I made it by lingu.
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So it's uh one page is in Spanish, the other is in English and
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you have the whole scenery there.
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So uh kids love that book and then finally, the publisher said
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write a middle reader book.
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So I wrote uh from farmer to astronaut uh in both in English
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So, and, and that one is just one book.
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So they read the English portion, they flip it over and the
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Spanish uh uh is, is right there and it says from the camp is
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And then uh uh from farm worker to astronaut is the English
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sides also giving uh motivational conferences all over the
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Well, let's get into it.
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Let's talk about, you know, the past a little bit and how you
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got from growing up working in the farm with your family to
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becoming an astronaut.
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So from the very beginning, what do you think was your like
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aha moment like I want to be an astronaut like, where were
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you that in that point of time, in terms of where you were living
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your dynamic with your family?
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And that moment before I start that, let me just make set the
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table uh in terms of the setting, in terms of the setting.
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Um I told you, I come from a migrant farm, working family, a
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lot of people say, let's say migrant farm, working family
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And I said, let me paint you the picture.
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Um Ever since I could remember because my dad used to do this
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since he was 15 years old.
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Uh He came from the state of Michoacan in Mexico to California
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And the only thing he knew how to work, which was agriculture
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And he quickly set a um routine that was common among people
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from Michoacan, which was uh follow the harvest of the crops
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From Southern California to northern California.
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Spent two months in Chino Ontario area picking strawberries
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Then he would move two months to Salinas where he worked in
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more strawberry picking and lettuce picking.
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And then he would go five months into Stockton and there he
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worked in picking cucumbers, cherries, peaches, pears,
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And then he would end the harvest around November time frame
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with the grape harvest.
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Then he would hightail it back to Mexico.
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Of course, he marries mom from his hometown and he uh brings
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mom along this pilgrimage every year.
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California, three months in Mexico.
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Well, any marriage kids come along, half of us were lucky enough
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to be born in the States and the other half were born in Mexico
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I kids based on the seasons and, and a kid with my siblings that
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were born in Mexico.
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I said, hey, I could run for president of the United States
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and they can't because you have to be a natural born citizen
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I know so fast forward second grade.
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Um we're in our last stop in November and my dad wakes up like
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he does every year makes the big announcement says kids, we're
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going to Mexico next week.
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Make sure you get three months worth of homework that you can
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That's so crazy that you're able to do that.
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Like just go to your teacher and be like, I need this much homework
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three months, a lot of homework to take with you the week before
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That's why he would do it the week before.
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So, so the teacher had time to do it.
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And of course, II I knew this routine because I asked for my
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homework in the kindergarten and I asked for my homework in
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So it was the third time.
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So I went to school with my siblings that day and I'm the youngest
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of the four and, and I went and it was miss Young, my teacher
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she's a, uh, tall Asian American woman, uh, very beautiful
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young and tall, relatively to a 10 year old.
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Because now I see her, the poor thing is shorter than me.
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And I, I'm short, but I tell her that I wanted, uh, three months
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worth of homework and she looks at me and she says, you tell
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your parents, I'm gonna go talk to them and I got scared because
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the teacher never comes to our house.
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And uh and she was frustrated and rightfully so because this
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She's doing this for the Hernandez family, right?
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She did it for my three other siblings.
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And so the fourth time was the charm.
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So she goes and, and kinda, you know, reads the riot act to my
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to my parents because she says, hey, your kids have potential
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but you need to stay in one place so that they have a chance to
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My dad didn't understand that because he was very defensive
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and he says, hey, we believe in education even though my, my
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wife and I only have a third grade education.
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We want you to um uh we want our the best for our kids and and,
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and so wherever they're at, they're either in school or doing
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And Miss Young said yes, but you move three times a year to different
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school districts and you know what my dad's response was,
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we moved during the weekend.
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Friday was the last day of one school Monday.
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We were in another school and then Miss Young says, but you
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go three months to Mexico, huh?
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But they do your homework.
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So, in my dad's eyes, he was providing for us and he was meeting
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Like you were doing everything right.
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You were technically in school, you were still doing your
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He didn't realize that moving in a strong way.
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But Miss Young came to you and, or came to your family came to
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my grandparents and we, like, that's not enough.
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There's something missing.
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There's a disconnect.
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And you know how she made my dad realize it.
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She used a farm analogy and she did it perfectly.
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I mean, she first, she elevates my dad.
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She tells my dad, you know, uh, your kids tell me you've been
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working in, uh, in farm, in farms all your life.
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You must be an expert and you didn't have to tell my dad that
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He puts his collar up says, well, I'm not sure I'm an expert
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but, uh, I know a thing or two about plants.
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And Miss Young smiles because he fell for her trap.
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And the trap was, she said, imagine I'm gonna give you a tree
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And I want you to find the best s land here, dig a hole and you
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And then M Young says, but in three months, I want you to find
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another plot of land, dig a hole and transplant that same tree
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And you're gonna be taking care of it like the expert that you
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are feeding it, fertilizing it the exact same way, the exact
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And my dad's a little bit confused and says, OK.
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And then M Young says in three months from now, what's more
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You're gonna find a new spot, dig a hole transplant that same
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But you're gonna take care of it like the expert that you are
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And then she looks at him straight and says, you are an expert
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in plants and trees.
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What happens to that tree in the long run?
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And my dad looks at her and says, that's an easy one, Miss Young
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He says the tree is not gonna die because I'm nourishing it
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But I will tell you this, you're gonna stunt it's it's growth
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Because you're not letting the tree grow its roots deep.
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He says the roots need to go deep so the branches can grow big
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He even raised his hands big and strong.
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And then two seconds later, you can see my dad's facial expression
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change because he realized that tree signified what he was
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doing to us and was like mic drop.
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She said, I think my job here is done and I'll tell you from then
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on we didn't stop in southern California.
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We didn't stop in Central California.
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We went straight to Stockton and then our trips to Mexico shrank
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from three months to three weeks centered around Christmas
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And that's when our education started to get traction.
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And then I already told you that when I was 10 years old, I saw
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astronaut Gene Cernan walk on the moon and the best thing I
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could have done that same day, December 1972.
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Because it was a cold day.
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Uh because I remember I was watching Gene Cernan on a black
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Then I would go outside and see the moon almost full.
15:09
And I was just mesmerized, being able to see Gene Cernan on
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TV, on the moon and the moon at the same time that I told my dad
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I wanna be an astronaut that same night because the dream
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was conceived at that moment.
15:25
Best thing I could have done because my dad takes me to the kitchen
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table and he gives me the recipe that I live to this day.
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He said, and I might, I remind you, he only has a third grade
15:38
education, but he had the wisdom to say this.
15:40
He said, if you want to do what you just told me, you want to do
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you gotta follow these five steps.
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I, I immediately became a sponge.
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I said, what are they?
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Then he says, you gotta to define your goal in life.
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And I said I wanna be an astronaut.
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I figure I got one out of five done.
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He said you gotta recognize how far you are from the goal.
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I looked at our half peeling linoleum four in, in our two bedroom
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rental in the worst part of Stockton, California.
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I told my dad we can't be any farther than this.
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I figured he was gonna, you know, slap me on but he didn't.
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He kind of chuckled.
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He said, I'm glad you recognize that son because the third
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thing is you gotta draw yourself a road map from where you know
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where you're at and clearly by your smart remarks you do to
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where you wanna go because you have to know the way I said, what's
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the forefront dad education?
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You gotta prepare yourself according to your going and you
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picked the big one, son.
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So good luck with that.
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And then he said, finally, he pointed outside the kitchen
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So you, you know that effort, you put out Saturdays and Sundays
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and seven days a week during the summer picking fruits and
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vegetables with your siblings and your mom and dad.
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So you know that effort.
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I said, yeah, dad, he points to my books on the kitchen table
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and says, you put that effort here.
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He says, you mix that up, that's the recipe to succeed.
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And then that's when he says, always give more than what people
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expect out of, you always give more.
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I went to sleep so happy because I said, you know what my dad
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said, empowered me to believe I could be an astronaut.
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He gave me a recipe.
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I'm gonna be an astronaut and I never looked back and I never
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believed I could never do it.
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Uh I would add that six ingredient that I told you earlier is
17:34
So you put those six ingredients and, and I mean, that's what
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I took as a 10 year old and I ran with it all the way to my 12th try
17:44
of becoming an astronaut and actually achieving it.
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So that's I, I also have to mention that even though my dad gave
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us the recipe and, and the expectation, you know, mom was also
17:57
played an important role because she laid the environment
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out at home in terms of uh making sure the right environment
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existed for us to do our homework.
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You know, we sat on the kitchen table and, you know, she would
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make handmade tortillas, give you a taco while you're doing
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your homework, all all these things to make it.
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And I, I remember one of the best example she did.
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I tell you if had both of them went to college, they would have
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been world renowned psychologists because they were the
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I remember we had finished work one day.
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It was a Friday when you get paid.
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And uh and, and in those days they would hand out paper checks
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you know, what are those now?
18:36
But they hand out paper checks and it was all five of us.
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And on Fridays we would go to a gas station, Chevron gas station
18:44
and the Bank of America was right across and it was after work
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uh, my siblings would go into the Food Mart and, you know,
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they would get Coke and chips for us.
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My dad would gas up and my mom would drag me to the bank to cash
18:58
And I love going to the bank because it was air conditioned
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It was hot outside and, and, and I remember we're standing
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in line and uh my mom tugs at my shirt.
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I said, yes, yes mommy.
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And she points at the general manager of the bank.
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And of course, the general manager is in a kind of real nice
19:14
designer suit, well dressed and all that.
19:18
And she says, what do you see there, son?
19:20
And I said, well, I see a man and she says, no, she says, I see
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I said this is, you know how I want to see you when you grow up
19:31
I said, look at yourself right now and I was muddy dirty.
19:34
I said, look at your hands.
19:36
I said, if you work with this, pointing to my brain, my head
19:41
He says, you're gonna go farther and you're gonna be dressed
19:44
like him and you're gonna work in a place like this.
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If you work with your hands, look at your hands.
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He said, now, look at yourself.
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That's how you're gonna be the rest of your life.
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You want to do that the rest of your life.
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And she said, which means I said, you know, you gotta go to school
20:00
And so those are messages that were loud and clear to us and
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And I think that shows the importance of having a really strong
20:08
support system in your life for those who may not have it looking
20:13
to other people to provide that support.
20:15
And I think that's why you're such a great role model is not
20:19
everyone has parents like you or like I do.
20:23
And so they look to you for your story and for your encouragement
20:28
and your wise words of, you know, how to get to where you are
20:31
and how to be that successful.
20:33
So going, you know, into your college days and getting that
20:37
education and you're like, all right, this is what I need to
20:40
This is, you know, I have my plan, I have my road map.
20:43
Let's talk about you actually getting into the engineer field
20:47
So you went to college for engineering and then you started
20:51
working in the field as an engineer and you started that process
20:56
of, of applying to become a NASA astronaut.
21:00
What does that mean?
21:01
What is that whole process?
21:02
And you got rejected a lot, like a lot to the point where not
21:07
a lot of people would probably have the same perseverance
21:12
So, so what was that, like, did you face any adversities?
21:16
Was it just really hard, like, what was going through your
21:21
mind in that whole process of you're establishing your career
21:24
and now you're really going for it.
21:26
A lot of people always ask me if it was frustrating, read or
21:30
um, or why I didn't give up sooner, you know, because they
21:34
say, wow, 11 rejections, I said, you, you don't hear that a
21:39
lot, maybe the fourth, the fifth time.
21:41
But the thing I always tell folks, I said, this is why it's great
21:45
to have a built in Plan B in your life.
21:50
And that's what I did.
21:52
I, I said because, you know, I, I always knew I wanted to be an
21:58
astronaut and I was smart enough to, when I was in high school
22:02
to, to see and say, ok, what kind of careers do astronauts have
22:06
Because you can't go to a university and say I wanna major in
22:10
There's not, there's not a major in that, right?
22:12
And so, so I said, well, what kind of careers, what kind of schools
22:16
And what did they study?
22:17
And I saw that a lot of them were astrophysicists, uh some were
22:20
even medical doctors, but the bulk of them were engineers
22:24
and to me engineers was very pragmatic because I knew I can
22:28
have a uh a job in uh in industry if I don't make it as an astronaut
22:35
And in order to train, you know, in order to be able to get there
22:38
as, as an astronaut, I knew I had to go to graduate school.
22:41
And so that's what I did.
22:42
I said I'm gonna go major in engineering because I know I can
22:44
get a job and then I can go to graduate school.
22:47
Uh because I competition is tough at NASA.
22:50
So you need a graduate degree.
22:51
So I knew I was smart enough to go to graduate school.
22:54
And then I started working at Lawrence Silver Lab.
22:56
And I started after I had three years experience, I was eligible
23:00
to put in my first application and of course I would get rejected
23:05
and then I would get rejected again.
23:06
Re I got rejected six times.
23:09
Uh by the sixth time, II, I would get the same letter.
23:13
The only thing that changed was the date because it said dear
23:17
applicant and said, even though you qualified to become an
23:19
astronaut, more than 18,000 people apply and only uh 10 to
23:24
15 astronauts get selected.
23:25
Unfortunately, you're not one of them.
23:26
So I remember I, I crunched that six rejection letter down
23:30
and uh and your mom found it and, and at that point I had given
23:35
up and this is all signs that happened, you know, because I
23:40
threw the crumpled piece in the round garbage can and it missed
23:45
it, hit the floor, had it hit the garbage can and went in.
23:48
Your mom would be totally different because my right, because
23:52
your mom would have put the garbage away, wouldn't have looked
23:54
at the fact that it was on the floor caught her attention and
23:57
she looked at it and she saw it scrunched up.
24:00
So she kind of figured I was giving up because she then confronts
24:03
me and says, what's this?
24:05
And that's when I tell her, I said, well, you know, it's nasa's
24:09
I don't think they want me.
24:10
I think I'm gonna give up this silly dream.
24:12
And she said, that's not the man.
24:16
Oh I said, uh it's because, because she, she, and then she went
24:21
She said, so you're a quitter.
24:24
I mean, to me, those are fighting words.
24:26
And I said, no, I'm not a quitter.
24:30
It's clear they don't want me.
24:32
And then she reads the last line that's the same on every rejection
24:37
Please feel free to apply for the next election round.
24:41
I said they're inviting you to apply again.
24:44
So you don't know if they all selected the 7th, 8th or ninth
24:47
And she said, and I know that if you do quit now, what's gonna
24:53
happen years down the line is because I know you very well,
24:56
you're always gonna wonder what if, and that little bug inside
25:01
of you is gonna gnaw at you.
25:03
And you're gonna grow up to be a bitter old man.
25:07
And I don't want to be married to a bitter old man.
25:09
So you better think about applying again.
25:12
And so she read me the riot act and, you know, after thinking
25:16
about it, I said, you know, she's right, I'm not gonna give
25:19
up, but I did something different after that.
25:22
The thing that I did different that I wasn't doing the last
25:25
six years was I took a deep dive into everybody's career that
25:31
And I asked myself a fundamental question.
25:33
What do they have that I don't have because we had the same,
25:38
similar education, similar work experience, similar age
25:41
and I could have used discrimination as a excuse, cop out excuse
25:46
But I said, you know, NASA is too, too good for that.
25:50
I know they don't discriminate.
25:51
I know they go on talent.
25:52
So there must be something else.
25:55
And then looking at the background of each astronaut, it hit
25:58
me like a brick wall.
26:01
They were all pilots and I wasn't a pilot.
26:06
I invested in myself and I became a pilot.
26:10
But then I applied again, didn't get selected.
26:13
I did that same deep dive.
26:16
They were all pilots, but I was a pilot and I was happy but then
26:19
I saw they were all scuba diver rated.
26:24
So every weekend I would drive to Monterey California and
26:28
dive for the weekend.
26:29
I got basic, certified, advanced, certified scuba rescue
26:33
uh master certified.
26:34
I wanna make sure NASA knew, I knew how to scuba dive.
26:39
And then I think finally what tipped the scales to my favor
26:45
There was a job they were looking for engineers to work with
26:48
the State Department to go to Russia and help them help the
26:52
Russians uh reduce their nuclear stockpile of weapons.
26:56
And uh and the US was help, was interested in helping them out
26:59
because they want to reduce the amount of weapons and no one
27:01
wanted to go because it was in Siberia five year project.
27:04
You're gonna go travel 67 times a year, 2 to 3 weeks at a time
27:09
And I said, put me in coach and it wasn't because I wanted to
27:13
get away from your mom.
27:15
It wasn't because of that.
27:16
It was because I had read in the newspaper a few months back
27:20
that the US and Russia had signed an agreement that we were
27:24
gonna build the International Space Station together.
27:28
So it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out even though
27:31
I am one, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out
27:34
that we were gonna be working with the Russians hand in hand
27:38
And I saw this as the great differentiator that will differentiate
27:43
me from the competition because I told my boss, I'll take this
27:47
job that no one wanted it.
27:49
I said, but I'll take it one condition.
27:51
He said, what's that?
27:52
He said, I want a one on one Russian language instructor.
27:56
Uh So I could do my job better in Russia.
27:59
And he loved my, the idea.
28:02
He says, I very proactive of you to be like this is what I need
28:07
but I was doing it because I said this is gonna look good in
28:09
my application in your favor.
28:12
Yeah, after five years learned Russian and shortly after
28:18
that, that's when NASA started calling.
28:22
But to get to your point, did I get frustrated because I was
28:27
I said, no, everybody hates rejection.
28:30
Everybody gets uh you know, down on when you're rejected.
28:34
I and I was no different, but I would always pick myself up because
28:39
I, because I would say the fact that I want to be an astronaut
28:44
motivated me to go to college, motivated me to go to graduate
28:48
school, motivated me to get a job at a world premier National
28:53
Be a pilot, motivated me to be a scuba diver, learn a third language
28:59
So what's the worst that could happen if I never get selected
29:04
I have a kick ass job at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
29:07
You're not a successful career in not, not a bad consolation
29:14
So, so that's, that's what kept me going and something that
29:17
I actually have learned just in my, you know, 24 years on this
29:22
planet and all of my experiences, you know, you ask the question
29:27
you know, what's the worst thing that can happen?
29:30
And you have an amazing career and you don't become an astronaut
29:34
I like asking what's the best thing that can happen?
29:37
You put in all this work and what is the best thing that can happen
29:41
You become an astronaut and that's what you did and you went
29:44
to space and that is pretty freaking cool to anyone.
29:48
I don't think anyone is like, oh OK, you're an astronaut.
29:51
No, that is the coolest job to have on on earth and outside of
29:57
So I really, you know, commend you for your hard work and also
30:01
instilling that in me and teaching not only me, but so many
30:04
people that perseverance is really the key message and you
30:09
know, making a dream into a reality, talking about actually
30:14
going to space though.
30:15
What was that process like?
30:17
Ok, you're now a NASA astronaut, you're training, what is
30:22
the training look like?
30:23
And I want to hear about the actual launch because I think a
30:26
lot of people are curious of what that experience is like and
30:32
then, you know, you're in space but you're still doing a job
30:36
So I think a lot of people would love to hear about that when
30:39
you get selected, I always tell people be careful what you
30:43
ask for because you may get it.
30:46
And when I got selected uh oh, what did I sign up for?
30:49
Exactly when, when I got selected as a NASA astronaut?
30:53
So you show up at NASA uh you know, you, you're part of a 14, a
30:57
group of 14 astronauts uh astronaut class number 19.
31:03
Uh and uh and you start training and I tell you, it was one of
31:08
the toughest trainings because you, you're not eligible
31:12
Once you get named to be an astronaut, you're actually an astronaut
31:15
candidate for two years when you report to NASA.
31:18
And during those two years, you basically learn how to fly
31:26
And I always tell myself, oh, that's why they wanted us to have
31:31
Then they teach you how to do E VA space walking in the nutri
31:37
It's a 40 ft deep pool where a life size shuttle and a third of
31:42
the International Space Station fit underwater.
31:44
At the same time, the space station is as big as a football field
31:47
So imagine a third of it fitting underwater in a pool with a
31:51
life size shuttle underwater.
31:54
So you put on the E VA S flight suit and they, with a crane, they
31:58
put you under water and then they make you neutrally buoyant
32:01
and you crack this E VA with spacewalks.
32:04
And that's when I told myself this is why they wanted you to
32:07
be scuba dive certified.
32:09
They want to make sure everything has a but, but NASA doesn't
32:13
say it, you have to figure out yourself.
32:15
And that's why I tell everybody, I said, hey, you want to do
32:17
be a, you gotta do this and this and that.
32:19
So I, I try to give them the go.
32:23
So, so, so, so, so, so I, I did all that and then the academics
32:28
are such that you have to learn the different subsystems of
32:32
the space shuttle in the International Space Station.
32:35
And then you go into single system trainers where they fail
32:38
like auxiliary power units, they fail the electrical system
32:42
the mechanical system and then they go into multiple uh subsystems
32:47
and do, do uh simulations and they fail different things that
32:52
interact with the other subsystems.
32:53
So you learn how to do that and then you do, you go to the high
32:57
fidelity motion based simulator and they put every integrate
33:00
everything together and they throw the kitchen sink at you
33:03
as you, as you do launches, you do orbit operations and you
33:08
do landings and then you have written tests every Friday for
33:12
So imagine being in graduate school uh in finals for two straight
33:17
years, that's how it felt like it was like rigorous, it was
33:21
tough and you can't help but have feelings like the impostor
33:28
syndrome because there you are you know, you, you're the only
33:32
uh Mexican American there.
33:34
You got flight jocks, you got helicopter pilots, you got navy
33:38
seals, you know, you got flight surgeons and then you got little
33:43
me and, and I would always doubt myself.
33:47
I said, do I really belong here because it was hard and you doubt
33:51
And the way I would pick myself up the way, I always tell people
33:54
the way you fight this impostor syndrome thing is take a,
33:59
I call safety time out on yourself and then look back at your
34:04
career because you're asking the question.
34:09
And then I say, hey, I went to, I got my, my engineering degree
34:13
my graduate degree, I learned a third language.
34:16
I'm a pilot, I'm a scuba diver.
34:18
I worked at a uh premier research facility.
34:21
I was one of two people who invented the first fulfilled digital
34:24
mammography system for early breast cancer.
34:28
And then I would tell myself, hell yeah, I belong here.
34:31
And then I would get back to work and say I'm gonna do this.
34:34
So I would never give up.
34:36
But that's how I handled it.
34:38
I mean, that's how it was.
34:40
And then after those two years you graduate and then you accept
34:44
a uh a, a job, uh they give you, they assign you a job to, to basically
34:50
support the missions.
34:52
And I was what they called a Cape Crusader uh astronaut support
34:57
Uh a group of four of us would go two weeks before a launch and
35:01
we would prep the space shuttle calibrate all the equipment
35:04
everything from the inside and then we would strap the crew
35:07
in our face was the last face they saw before they went off into
35:10
I did six of those missions.
35:13
That's so cool because I do remember you traveling a lot during
35:17
this time, which was not to Kennedy, which was not the easiest
35:22
But II I see how beneficial that was for you in that time of your
35:27
career because you were strapping these people and getting
35:31
ready to go on these launches that were super dangerous and
35:36
that I didn't really have, you know, the, you know, I couldn't
35:40
even wrap my head around that part of it at that age.
35:44
But you got first hand experience of going to these, you know
35:48
the launches and working side by side with these people and
35:53
thinking, oh, I'm, I'm gonna be this person one day.
35:55
You know, this is what I'm expecting to, to put myself through
36:00
And, and not only that, but we were also part of the rescue team
36:03
So we were in the closest area you can possibly be uh to see a
36:10
You could feel the heat of the engines where we were at.
36:12
After six missions, I get assigned to the mission with the
36:17
crew and then we got to train 18 months to go for our own mission
36:24
Those 18 months come and go.
36:26
Those were good training.
36:28
Uh wasn't as difficult as when we were astronaut candidates
36:31
because they're success oriented training.
36:33
So now I get selected to be the flight engineer.
36:36
Flight engineer is the best seat in the house because you're
36:39
a little bit behind the two pilots, but you're in the middle
36:43
and you get the panoramic, the best seat in the house, the seat
36:47
It's the busiest seat because uh you're, you're basically
36:51
supporting both pilots.
36:53
Uh you know, they each have five monitors and you're hawking
36:56
all those 10 monitors.
36:58
Uh If anything goes wrong, you peel off with the person that
37:01
owns the subsystem and you work the issue.
37:04
So you got to know everything about the show.
37:06
And uh and I was just so lucky that my commander had faith in
37:10
He says you're gonna be the uh the flight engineer and it had
37:14
a lot to do with the fact that the past six flights, I was inside
37:18
the cockpit and I knew the systems uh inside and out and that's
37:22
why he went hard work paid off.
37:23
So that hard work paid off.
37:26
Now imagine you're there and you're getting ready to launch
37:31
and you're strapped in and it starts to rain.
37:37
I start seeing flashes of light.
37:40
Your flight got delayed so many times.
37:43
I only like I got pulled out of school because it's such an experience
37:48
and it was in there, I was over there and I was watching and we
37:52
all get to watch the flights.
37:54
The families also get a really pretty cool view of the launch
37:57
and it kept getting delayed.
38:00
And so what turned into what was supposed to be, only a couple
38:03
day trip turned into like a two week trip or something?
38:05
A little bit over a week, a little bit because we were supposed
38:07
to fly on a Monday and we ended up flying on Friday.
38:11
So just imagine it was a midnight launch too.
38:14
Beautiful launches right in the middle of the night.
38:17
Uh, you know, when you're there, you reach, uh, t minus two
38:25
And then you hear the three engines of the shuttle come to life
38:32
You feel a gentle vibration and then about a second later the
38:37
two solid rocket boosters, the white ones light up.
38:40
Now, you know, you're going somewhere because those cannot
38:45
Where are you going?
38:45
You don't know, but you know, you're going somewhere when
38:47
those light up, the, the noise level goes up in order of magnitude
38:51
the vibration gets more violent.
38:53
And just as you think it's gonna fall over, you feel a push on
38:57
your back and that's lift off and you go from zero to 17,500
39:05
miles an hour in 8.5 minutes.
39:10
I mean, I always tell people it's the best e-ticket ride.
39:13
Disneyland can hope for, you know, 8.5 minutes.
39:18
You're up in space, you reach Miko, which is main engine cut
39:22
off and now you're going at that speed.
39:25
17,500 miles an hour around the earth.
39:28
Now it's a very smooth ride.
39:31
But you're going around the earth once every 90 minutes continuously
39:36
Once every 90 minutes, you get 45 minutes of daylight, 45 minutes
39:40
at night, 45 minutes of daylight, so on and so forth.
39:43
Then, you know, a day later we catch up to the International
39:46
Space Station, we talk to the station and then our work begins
39:51
boom, you're there in space, 14 days of space in space.
39:55
So now that we've talked about your present, your past, let's
39:59
talk a little bit about the future.
40:01
What are some of the cool things you got going on?
40:03
I know you have a foundation, you have your past, you know,
40:07
internships that you've done with your consulting company
40:10
What are those all about?
40:11
Do you want to talk about those?
40:13
But you know, one of the things is in which still includes the
40:17
future was that, you know, I'm all about inspiring this next
40:23
And uh and the primary focus uh these past few years has, has
40:30
been on my family on you, getting you through college, getting
40:33
your siblings through college and making sure that they're
40:37
And once that is uh is happening, which is has happened, I think
40:41
we only have one right, Antonio who's a fresh in uh in mechanical
40:46
You know, I've established a foundation called Reaching
40:49
Uh You can find its website astro JH dot org.
40:54
And in this foundation, what we did is um it works in the Central
40:58
valley of California, near Stockton.
41:00
And what we try to do is we try to promote, make people aware
41:04
of uh careers in stem science, technology, engineering and
41:10
Uh because in the area where we live primary agriculture,
41:13
a lot of people don't consider those type of uh uh career choices
41:18
And we, we're trying to expose uh the under utilize uh segmented
41:24
groups in our communities to be able to uh have access uh to
41:30
And so with my foundation, you know, we do have a three pronged
41:35
The first thing we do is uh we have a science blast where um we
41:40
invite more than 1205th graders uh to a university, University
41:45
of Pacific or Delta Community College.
41:47
And we expose them not only to the university but also a hands
41:51
on exploratorium experience.
41:53
So that uh Yeah, yeah, we, we plant the seed, that's a good way
41:58
of putting it, you plant the seed but, but we, we, we wanna wake
42:01
up their scientific curiosity so that so uh in in, in science
42:06
and they get excited and a lot of people say why?
42:09
Uh well, fifth grade, how old is the fifth grader?
42:14
How old was I when I wanted to become an astronaut?
42:18
So I figure if it worked for me, it's gonna work for them and
42:23
they have the added bonus that I saw an astronaut on TV.
42:27
They get to see an astronaut in person and most of the time that
42:33
astronaut looks like them, so they're able to uh so I try to
42:37
do this empowering of this 10 year old.
42:39
And then after that, we have a, a summer academy at the University
42:43
of the Pacific from seventh graders to 12th graders, spend
42:46
five weeks on a university campus and they study next year's
42:51
science and math core curriculum of their school uh in a hands
42:55
on approach uh so that they can go back strong uh and, and be
42:59
able to study, you know, math and science won't be foreign
43:03
And so we do that uh in a college environment so they can see
43:08
themselves in a college environment.
43:11
And, and so they, it has that added bonus as well.
43:14
And then we also give scholarships to our graduating seniors
43:18
that then go on to study uh stem careers.
43:21
So, so we do that during the uh with the Reaching for the Stars
43:25
Foundation and then with my small company, Tira Luna Engineering
43:30
if you write me an email info at tira luna engineering dot com
43:35
uh then uh we can give you information about applying as a
43:40
as a summer student to work and we'll put you to work on very
43:43
interesting satellite related projects or rocketry uh launching
43:49
Uh Also level one, level two, level three type of rockets.
43:52
Uh So there's a lot of work that we're doing and, and, and, and
43:56
and we're very excited, but, and then again, you know, I can't
44:00
emphasize enough the fact that we also uh you know, go out and
44:04
and preach the good gospel of space exploration via my conferences
44:09
and try to empower kids and adults, you know, to reach the full
44:13
potential, anything's possible in life if they're willing
44:16
to work hard for it.
44:17
And that's what I try to get across to everybody.
44:19
I just wanted to thank you again for coming on this podcast
44:22
I, I truly, you know, am inspired by you daily constantly.
44:27
You know, you're my biggest role model, you're also my dad
44:30
So it's like a special place in my heart to be able to share this
44:34
story from my perspective and your perspective.
44:38
And you're a big reason why this podcast even happened.
44:41
You're a big inspiration of that.
44:43
I think the most important takeaway is that your story is so
44:47
unique to you, but it's not unique in the sense that there are
44:50
so many other people who have such amazing stories and success
44:55
in these different fields.
44:56
And the reason why we created this podcast was to provide that
45:00
platform to share those stories and uplift those voices.
45:04
And I'm really excited to just be able to, to do that and embark
45:10
And I'm really excited for, for you to see the rest of it and
45:14
hear all these different stories from different people,
45:18
different women, especially women of color in, in these stem
45:23
Um And I, I just am really excited for this and I'm excited you
45:27
were here to be the first person to, to be on the podcast.
45:31
You definitely broke the ice.
45:32
And I, I hope everyone enjoyed listening to all of our stories
45:36
and all of your great advice that you have.
45:39
Well, I, I'm so proud of you, Vanessa for what you're doing
45:43
Uh And I'm very honored to be, you know, guest number one of
45:49
the astronauts daughter podcast.
45:51
You like you mentioned is, my story is not unique.
45:55
I think there's lots of stories that need to be told.
45:58
And uh through this medium, you're work, you're gonna be working
46:01
hard to uncover and tell these stories.
46:05
And then that allows people to realize that if they're not
46:09
in a unique position, I mean, they, they can identify with
46:14
some of us who have been there before yet through hard work
46:18
and perseverance, you know, we're able to achieve and they
46:21
can too, it's like I said, I'm not a genius, I'm not, you know
46:25
uh, an Einstein, but I do work hard and if people have good
46:29
work ethics, good things will, uh, will come and be, I always
46:33
have this saying, it's an old saying is the, uh, the, you know
46:37
the harder I work, the luckier I get, you know, and that's
46:41
that's the way it should be.
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