The Colombian from NASA talks with SEMANA

The reality of Diana Trujillo’s dream. A dream so great that it broke the utopian barriers of the impossible and made its way through the paths of struggle and perseverance and perseverance and study, and among those things that have no explanation, the different spark of will possessed by those who only have one chance.

His talent was discovered by a chemistry teacher at Canaverales School in Cali. The teacher, amazed at Diana’s brilliance, recommended that she do it I had to emigrate from Colombia. At that time, in 1997, there was no university in the country that was able to house and exploit all the talents of the young genius.

He came to the United States when he was only 17 years old. His goal was not to conquer the world. His dreams were more ambitious: to explore the universe. To turn the impossible into the possible, she worked cleaning houses to be able to pay for her undergraduate studies in aerospace engineering; He made his way through academia until his name reached NASA.

This is how the journey began

Since 2008, he has worked at that space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributing to several missions.

After some time, she is the leader of the Surface Sampling System in the Curiosity mission, a role that she plays She was responsible for ensuring arm activity, sampling, and other daily tasks for that rover that landed on the space surface in August 2012.

Later, his star opportunity came: to lead the Perseverance mission, which transported a robot to Mars. Everything went according to plan and the device hit the ground on February 18 after a 480 million km journey that began in July 2020.

And this perseverance is one of the words that bears the stamp of Diana Trujillo. When he arrived in the United States, he did not speak English, but that was not an obstacle for him to continue his spacewalk.

Curiosity to know what is beyond that was born in Colombia. The depressing news of a war that was at its historical peak of terror tormented her The only thing that calmed her down was going up on her rooftop and spending hours looking up at the stars. He imagined a way beyond everything.

Fantasies are now challenges. Last week, she was formally introduced by NASA as one of the women who are part of a group of seven new spaceflight mission managers, who aim to study and solve challenges so that humans can return to vault the planet. the moon .

His job, explained in simple words, is to coordinate the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a position in which he will have to direct manned spaceflight missions from the Mission Control Center, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas.

The engineer explained that this project “seeks to conduct scientific experiments and expand our knowledge of how to sustain life in space. Also to study how to deliver vehicles to the space station. Previously When it turns out that life can be preserved, our next stage is the return of man to the moon (…). Only then will it be possible to consider transporting humans to Mars. In other words, it’s as if we were going for a walk and recharging our energy, we made a quick stop on the moon.”

Other paths are open

Diana was born on January 4, 1980. She is 42 years old. She is married to William Pomerantz, Vice President of Special Projects for Virgin Orbit. They have two children, who are still minors. She is considered one of the most influential Latin American women in the aviation technology industry, For their contributions to the development and innovation of robotic arm systems for unmanned space exploration vehicles.

He studied space science at Miami Dade College Community School in Florida, then studied aerospace engineering in the systems engineering program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He undertook professional training at the NASA Space Academy and then joined the Education Department of the same agency.

This is a very brief overview of who took the Colombian flag as high as possible. However, behind this general data there are great details, for example, that Thanks to the work and inspiration of Diana Trujillo, NASA set its sights on Colombia and opened the Hey She Program, Which seeks to train 100 Colombian girls between the ages of 9 and 15 to teach them the way to space. Diana is not just a reference; This is the way too.

“If you feel inspired, please know that you can turn that inspiration into action. You and your daughters and sons can also become scientists and engineers. You can start today!”

His work was also recognized in Colombia. In the most recent Kafam Award for Women, on March 8, it was given amid the celebration of International Women’s Day.

“It gives me great emotion to have the honor of receiving this tribute and Continuing to inspire all women to work for their dreams, without giving up. “I came to the United States with $300, without knowing English, and today I’m on the second mission to Mars, where we want to know if we’re alone on this planet,” said the Colombian engineer.

He was also awarded the Cruz de Boyaca by the national government, the highest honor for an eminent citizen. “Engineering today is a source of inspiration for the many girls in our country who have joined the network of young women who want to become scientists, but also for those who are training in universities in our country and abroad. President Evan Duque Marquez said, “I have no doubt that when they see you, they see the standard of desire to reach those places of leadership and transcendence.

Likewise, Diana won the appreciation of all of Colombia, including public figures such as Shakira. The singer commented on her Twitter account: “Diana’s story moves and inspires me.”

The message that the engineer did not hesitate to respond to. “Thank you very much Shakira for your message. I hope parents, teachers, girls and boys have been inspired by the fall of perseverance. I hope that in your hearts there is hope to be the engineers and scientists of the future.

Important. This is the key word in Diana’s dictionary of life. Now that her childhood dreams have become a reality, she has been replaced by her adult goals. And while that sounds impossible, he wonders why not? This is enough to believe. To believe to the end, just as in 1997, the teacher believed in her. The journey is not over yet.