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Rafael Legorreta
is studying Aerospace Engineering and led a team at NASA that designed a material that will be used in the next space missions . The objective is to return to the Moon and to begin exploring Mars .
Since he was just a kid, Rafael enjoyed watching airplanes fly. In the beginning, he wondered what they were, how they worked, and how it was possible for them to fly.
Hence he focused his career on that area and is studying at the Metropolitan Polytechnic University of Hidalgo , the Mexican state from where he is from.
According to Universia’s website, Aerospace engi n eering is one of the 10 best-paid majors with wages of up to MXN $19, 000 per month. In Mexico, there are nearly 8,000 graduates working in that area.
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It was one of Rafael’s teachers who told him about the IASP 2019 program in Townsville , Alabama . He participated in the Aerospace Extraordinary Applications (AEXA) in the United States.
This path to NASA’s facilities has also been traveled by other Mexican scientists and engineers. The most recent example is Yair Piña , as well as José Hernández , who is an astronaut.
Due to his school history and interests, Rafael was the perfect candidate to participate in the Space Rocket Center , the same place where rockets that are sent to space are assembled. As part of the program, he attended conferences of people who work or used to work there.
The program also includes a competition featuring students from Mexico , Ecuador , Switzerland , Canada , and Peru , among others.
The competition is based on simulating a space mission with real characteristics. “It consists of proposing a material that helps the Artemis Mission 2024 which is organized by NASA to return to the Moon and explore it and then go to Mars to begin the colonization of planets,” explains the 19-year-old youth.
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Rafael’s team was made of students from Zacatecas , Durango , Ecuador , and a schoolmate from his university. They proposed the use of a material and delivered a final presentation in front of four NASA engineers who work in space missions.
The characteristics of their proposal were based on something that could be combined with a solvent like paint. Hence, they created a coating that allowed them to isolate the habitat from solar radiation .
They chose strontium hexagonal ferrite that, he asserts, is easy to obtain. With this idea, the team won the first place of the competition and the researchers will continue making tests of how and in what it will be applied to take it to the next space mission.
Rafael explains that this material is used for coatings in satellites or moon habitats .
“A dream come true”
The competition has been held for approximately 10 years but the prizes are not always the same. On other occasions, they have included computers , tablets , and cash money .
“That’s why I think this year’s prize was better than in previous years with prizes like gadgets or even money. I think that it’s better that Mexico’s name is in a project of this kind and that is going to space,” says Rafael.
In addition to the conferences, the main ob j ective of this program is the simulation of living like an astronaut . “They put us in a moonwalk, to spin in the multi-axis; we were under different gravity forces, and slept like astronauts,” Rafael remembers with excitement.
The 19-year-old Mexican asserts that part of his experience was also to know a different culture and way of living. His routine consisted of having breakfast at 7:00, eating at 12:00, and dining at 18:00.
To participate in this program, the student had to sell pastries and keychains made by himself and his family. This was the way in which they were able to obtain the USD $3,500 cost to enroll, plus the travel expenses.
“It was a shock of emotions when they accepted me because on one hand, I was happy and on the other, I was worried about the expenses ,” he asserts.
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He stressed that all of this was thanks to his parents , his sister , his schoolmates , and other people who supported him to gather the money and balance the food sales with his studies.
In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL , his mother said that she was very excited about her son’s achievement and also talked about the sacrifices they had to make as a family and how surprised she was to know that he had won the competition.
“I couldn’t believe when they gave us the news . I knew that he was going to win something, but not the first p l ace,” she comments. It was the director of his major who broke the news to the family.
After the space travel
“What I like the most was the time I spent at NASA and everything they taught us. In addition to having won the first place in the competition, what I cherish are the moments and experiences I had.”
After this, Rafael considers that it would be a good option to graduate or to make postgraduate studies in Canada or the U.S.
He pretends to develop his career in aerospace , especially on aircraft design . “I’m very interest in drones because they are part of the future,” he said.
“What I know is that I’d like to work abroad and why not, return to NASA ,” he asserts. In the future, he would also like to give conferences and talks to youths to tell them about his experience and the mistakes and achievements he has made.
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