SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Katya Echazarreta, who recently made history as the first Mexican-born American woman ever to fly to space, is from San Diego. It was a lifelong dream she was able to accomplish at only 26 years old.
Katya told CBS 8 about the impact of her historic flight with Blue Origin this past June.
"Being able to see all of those children little girls little boys in Mexico and Latin America--feeling re-inspired and motivated and feeling like this is something that they can do as well is so exciting. We have motivated them, we have inspired them--now where are those opportunities so they can be next? That is now part of my journey," Katya said.
On June 4, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket carried its fifth group of passengers to the edge of space and Katya got an opportunity to apply to one of the six seats through a nonprofit called Space for Humanity.
According to CBS News, the organization's goal is to send "exceptional leaders" to space and allow them to experience the "overview effect," a phenomenon astronauts have described after looking down at the Earth from the outside. "They recognize that, as humans, our commonalities far outweigh our differences," Space for Humanity says on its website.
Katya shared some advice for anyone with big aspirations who may not know where to begin.
"Just go out there and start--we start doing them even though we don't know how they're going to end up, even though we don't know if we're going to succeed or if it's even going to work out--that we just get on the road and start building something," Katya told CBS 8.
Katya was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and moved to San Diego where she attended City College. She was selected for the flight from a pool of 7,000 applicants from more than 100 countries based on her outstanding achievements in the space industry.
Katya is now teaming up with McDonald's to promote "Hiring Week" coming up on October 17, 2022. Katya's first job was at a McDonalds in Chula Vista. She started working there to help support her family.
Hundreds of McDonald’s across Southern California are participating in this first-ever "Hiring Week" event, where they will be providing job seekers with the opportunity to apply for thousands of open positions, and even interview on the spot! Participating locations can be found here.
Katya says she credits McDonald’s with giving her the life skills that helped her achieve her dreams of becoming an engineer and an astronaut.
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