Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican-born woman to travel to space, has become an international inspiration for young people pursuing their science dreams. Echazarreta will be the Fleet Science Center’s Guest of Honor at its 50th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, April 15.
The 27-year-old electrical engineer was chosen for the Space for Humanity initiative to fly to space with the Blue Origin NS-21, as a Space for Humanity Ambassador in June 2022. She credits the Fleet with piquing her interest, “The Fleet really is what started this journey toward space for me.”
As an elementary school student in the South Bay, Echazarreta visited the Fleet on a school field trip and participated in a simulated space mission, she shared with GB Magazine. “That was one of the first times I had felt like I belonged. I felt like I knew what I was doing.” She explains that she was so excited to tell her classmates and the Fleet facilitators about Mars. “I was telling everybody, ‘You guys are going to see that we’re going to find that there was water on Mars,’” she says. At that time, this fact had not yet been proved.
That field trip was not the end of her involvement with the Fleet. While a City College student, she volunteered at the Fleet and paid it forward to San Diego County children who were as excited about STEM as she had been.
“Each year the Fleet connects more than 120,000 youth to the power of science,” notes Fleet President and CEO Steve Snyder. “Katya is an inspiration to them, and we are proud to have her as our Honorary Guest for the 50th Anniversary Gala.”
The Fleet is grateful to community members like Echazarreta, who help extend our mission – to connect everyone to the power of science – to the next generation.
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