00:01Daniel Hernández es parte de una nueva generación de ingenieros que están redefiniendo la exploración espacial.
00:08De origen latino y con base en la NASA, su trabajo refleja no solo avances tecnológicos,
00:13sino también el creciente papel de la comunidad hispana en misiones clave.
00:18Desde Houston ha liderado proyectos que buscan entender cómo será la vida fuera de la Tierra,
00:25integrando ciencia, ingeniería y el factor humano.
00:30Part of my job is that I get to work the cutting edge.
00:33I get to interact with not only individuals, but hardware and science
00:40that is going to take us to the moon, to Mars,
00:45and being a part of the team that is going to get us to that next frontier,
00:49to be a part of the team that is going to make humanity really become a interplanetary species.
01:04Hi, I'm Daniel Hernández, and I am a Space Exploration Analog Project Manager here at NASA.
01:10An analog is an opportunity for scientists and engineers to expand and explore their understanding
01:19of a particular environment or particular set of science-based projects
01:25before we actually introduce them into a real-life scenario.
01:30CHAPIA is a Mars-forward analog, specifically focused on what we call the surface segment of a Mars mission,
01:42and that's where our Mars astronauts would be living on the surface of Mars.
01:47We're performing this particular project because we are wanting to make sure that we're getting ready
01:53and we are prepared for long-duration exploration-type missions,
01:58like the moon and even Mars.
02:00The significance of CHAPIA is that we have a crew that is living in isolation and confinement for the duration
02:09of a year,
02:10and we hope to understand the different crew dynamics, the behavior, health, and performance of those crew members
02:19while they are living in a long-term isolated and confined environment with a level of resource restrictions.
02:30As a Exploration Project Manager, I am directly responsible for making sure that the team as a whole is collaborating,
02:40and by team, I'm talking about the scientists, the engineers, and the mission control operators.
02:47I also have a responsibility to make sure that I'm managing the budget,
02:53that I'm also making sure that the project is on track and on schedule,
02:57and we have everything in place for mission success.
03:02The CHAPIA Habitat is a 3D-printed structure.
03:06It is approximately 1,700 square feet,
03:09so it's like the size of a small to medium-sized home,
03:15and it has some similarities to a house.
03:18You have the rooms where our crew members live.
03:22The difference is that they're all identical in size to each other,
03:27but we also have a common space or our galley area where crew would commonly meet there for downtime,
03:36or that's where they have their meals.
03:38And then the largest part of our habitat is really the workroom space,
03:43and so this is where crew spends really a large amount of their time throughout the course of the mission,
03:49where they are performing different tasks and activities that we would expect a Mars crew to perform.
03:59That's everything from growing crops to performing science and engineering activities
04:05to even exploring our simulated Martian environment as EVAs or extravehicular activities.
04:13This is our opportunity to really understand the different things that we need to start planning for.
04:20So in a nutshell, an analog is an opportunity for us to test in a very safe environment before actually
04:29moving there.
04:31As a kid, you know, I loved to tinker and take things apart just to learn why and how things
04:38worked.
04:38So everything from the family radio to the family TV,
04:45whether that meant I could put it back together after I took it apart is a different story.
04:49My fondest memories growing up were actually working under the hood of our family car with my mom,
04:56pulling out alternators and swapping things out, everything from oil changes and brake changes.
05:01I never thought that tinkering actually was associated to engineering.
05:05Looking back at it, it had everything to do with engineering.
05:08It was an opportunity to explore my imagination, to be curious,
05:13and just really develop that understanding of how things work and why things are connected.
05:21So some advice that I would give to someone who wants to work for NASA or to even jump into
05:27the STEM field,
05:29engineering, is that no one path is linear, and I know mine wasn't.
05:34Failing is a part of the process of learning to create the products,
05:39to create the engineering marvels that we have today.
05:44Embrace those opportunities where you fail,
05:48because it's an opportunity to improve upon yourself, make yourself better.
05:52Trust the journey that you're on.
05:54Trust the path that you're on,
05:56because it's going to lead you to where you're meant to be.
06:00What do you,
