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Tell everybody about your dreams and passions. I\h
think when we share our passions with the world\h\h

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and with others, opportunities come our way.

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My name is Dr. Yajaira Sierra-Sastre and I am\h
an engineering project manager at NASA Glenn.\h\h

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I lead the Mars spring tire team. This is\h
the team responsible for the design and build\h\h

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of the sample fetch rover tires and wheel\h
assemblies for the rover that we will be\h\h

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sending to Mars to catch those samples that\h
Perseverance Rover is collecting right now.\h

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I had this opportunity to live for four months on\h
top of a volcano. It was a dream come true. It was\h\h

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my first time contributing to NASA projects\h
and live my childhood dream of like being an\h\h

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astronaut for four months without escaping Earth.\h
It's a huge responsibility but I love interacting\h\h

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with students. I love inspiring them and I see\h
how, you know, what I am doing really impacts\h\h

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my community as a source of inspiration for others\h
to follow and as they see themselves represented.\h

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What would be on my bucket list? I would like\h
to become a pilot. I would like to be able to\h\h

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learn and I would like to learn to to fly the\h
plane so that's in my bucket list at the moment.\h

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Recently, I started doing rock\h
climbing and I am loving it .\h

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I am originally from Puerto Rico. I\h
come from a very big family of five\h\h

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sisters. I am the only scientist in the family.
My mother, a very hard worker, woman that never\h\h

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gives up, a person that was there when I needed\h
it the most to remind me that I should not give\h\h

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up and I should keep working hard for my dreams.
English as the second language. I learned\h\h

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English as an adult, so that's a\h
challenge that I had to overcome.\h

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That moment when I was five years old when my\h
dad woke me up in the middle of the night to go\h\h

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and look at the stars in the night sky. That\h
moment really instilled in me this curiosity\h\h

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I have for science, this curiosity I have about\h
the universe. It was a very special moment for\h\h