The poor girl who raised her whole family was allowed to fly into space

A rocket from aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin has sent the fifth group of passengers into space to experience. Most of the passengers were charged an undisclosed amount. But Katya Echazarreta – an engineer, a science communicator from Guadalajara, Mexico was selected by a non-profit organization called Space for Humanity to join this mission from thousands of subscribers.

The organization’s goal is to send “outstanding leaders” into space and allow them to experience the totality effect, a phenomenon often reported by astronauts who say observing Earth Land from space gives them a profound change of perspective.

Echazarreta told CNN she experienced that general effect “my own way”.

“Look down and see everyone down there, all our past, all our mistakes, all our obstacles, everything, everything is there,” she said.

“And the only thing I can think about when I come back to Earth is that I need people to see these things. I need Latin Americans to see this. And I think that will help strengthen my mission as continues to attract women in general and people of color into space, doing whatever they want.”

Echazarreta was the first woman of Mexican descent and the second Mexican after Rodolfo Neri Vela to travel into space.

She moved to America with family at 7 years old. She remembers being overwhelmed when she arrived at her new place, where she did not speak the language. One teacher warned her she might fall behind.

“It really empowered me. Since then, since third grade, I’ve been standing up and not stopping,” Echazarreta recalls in an Instagram interview.

At the age of 17-18, Echazarreta said she was also the main breadwinner of the family with the salary working for McDonald’s.

“Sometimes I work four jobs at once, just to try to get through college because it’s really important to me,” she says.

Currently, Echazarreta is studying for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Previously, she worked at NASA’s renowned Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. She also boasts more than 330,000 followers on TikTok, is the founder of a series of science-based YouTube channels, and is the host of CBS’s “Mission Unstoppable” weekend show.

Space for Humanity was founded in 2017 by Dylan Taylor, a space investor who also recently participated in a Blue Origin space flight. The foundation said it chose Echazarreta because of her impressive contributions.

Echazarreta says she was motivated to become a public figure after working at JPL but didn’t meet other engineers like her.

“There are so many people in this world who dream of the same things that I have. And yet I don’t see them here. So what’s going on?” – she asked.

“It’s not enough for me to get here. I need to help get others to do the same.”

Dang Duong (According to CNN)