Mexico City, April 24, 2024. Mexican astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela asked President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that the next official astronaut of Mexico, man or woman, be selected through NASA guidelines and not through a “finger”.
On his social networks, the cosmonaut warned that there are qualified applicants, with track records and experience who must be taken into account.
“Mr. President AMLO: with all due respect, the next official astronaut of Mexico, whether man or woman, must be selected through a serious national call, following NASA guidelines and not by a simple whim or whim,” he posted.
“In Mexico there are thousands of highly trained women, with postgraduate degrees, excellent careers and a lot of experience in science and engineering.”
Yesterday, the president received at the National Palace the heads of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Bill Nelson and Pamela Melroy, one of the only two women who have commanded a space shuttle.
According to the president, during the conversation the possibility was addressed that Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican woman to travel as part of the Blue Origin NS-21 mission aboard a New Shepard spacecraft, could return to space.
“We are trying, among other things, for Katya Echazarreta, a young Mexican astronaut, to go to space again,” revealed the man from Tabasco.
This Wednesday, when responding to the Chief Executive, Neri Vela considered that he is poorly advised and regretted that Mexican academic institutions have not raised their voices to protest.
“I regret this unfortunate mistake on your part, probably due to some ill-intentioned advice. Mexican women educated in university institutions in Mexico deserve justice, nearly 40 years after I had the privilege of being the first and only official astronaut of Mexico to date,” she asserted.
“I am surprised that neither the UNAM, nor the IPN, nor anyone else, have raised their voices in the face of an unjustified absurdity.”
In August 2022, Echazarreta also met with the President at the National Palace.
Before entering, he announced that he had in mind returning to space. “I’m already getting ready,” she said then.
Text and photo: Agencia Reforma
