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ROOKIERetiredNASA
ROOKIERetiredNASANASA·🇲🇽 Mexico·Born 1952
Rodolfo Neri Vela
First Mexican in space.
165h
Hours in Space
1
Missions
0
EVAs
—
EVA Time
From space, I see myself as one more person among the millions and millions who loved, live, and will live on Earth.
Biography
First Mexican in space. Flew on Space Shuttle Atlantis helping deploy the Morelos 2 communications satellite.
Before NASATelecommunications and electromagnetic-radiation researcher at UNAM with a PhD from the University of Birmingham, working on Mexico's Morelos satellite program.
Notable Missions
STS-61-B
Beyond the Mission
Causes They Champion
Engineering education in MexicoPublic science outreach
Languages
SpanishEnglish
Awards & Honors
- NASA Space Flight Medal
- Medalla al Mérito Ciudadano (Mexico City)
Authored
- Estaciones Espaciales Habitadas
- El Universo del Hombre y Su Sistema Solar
Fun fact
He requested tortillas for his shuttle meals — and NASA has flown tortillas instead of crumbly bread on every Shuttle and ISS mission ever since.
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