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Katya Echazarreta

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Katya Echazarreta
Born (1995-06-15) June 15, 1995 (age 29)
Guadalajara, Mexico
NationalityMexican, American
Education
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Websitewww.katechazarreta.com

Katya Celeste Echazarreta González[1] (born June 15, 1995) is a Mexican electrical engineer, science communicator, and Citizen Astronaut. She became the first Mexican-born woman in space as part of Space for Humanity's Citizen Astronaut Program, launched June 4, 2022.[2]

She worked at NASA, first as an intern during her university undergraduate career, then later as a test lead for the Europa Clipper Ground Support Equipment group. She has contributed to a total of five NASA missions. Around 2019, Echazarreta began uploading engineering-related content to Instagram, later expanding her platforms to YouTube and TikTok.

Echazarreta was the co-host of Netflix's YouTube series, Netflix IRL, while pursuing a Master's degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Early life and education

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Echazarreta was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico[3] until the age of 8, after which her family moved to California, USA.[4][5] She had a difficult first few years, having to learn English while starting elementary school. “It was definitely an obstacle for me to learn about a brand new culture and to learn a brand new language. I recall being made fun of for my accent, but I was determined to push through. It helped me become really hard working from a young age, and to not be afraid of a challenge.”[6]

After graduating from Eastlake High School, she attended San Diego City College for three years, where she was a part of the Society of Women Engineers, a mentor for the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program, and was a Price Scholarship Scholar. Echazarreta transferred to UCLA in 2016, completing her Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2019.[7]

She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Research and career

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During her undergraduate career, Echazarreta was a research intern at Rutgers University in 2016 for their Research in Science and Engineering (RiSE) program. She co-authored Depth-Inversion "Easillusions" and "Hardillusions": Differences for Scenes and Faces which focused on human recognition of two depth-inversion illusions—the perception of depth structure opposite to the stimulus's physical depth.[8] In 2017, Echazarreta was a research assistant at UCLA for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she experimented with various materials to serve as both the PCB and body of the robot while maintaining electrically isolated portions.[9]

She later obtained an internship at NASA JPL for the summers of 2018 and 2019. Following her graduation from UCLA, she received Suborbital Citizen Scientist Astronaut Training with Project PoSSUM. She transitioned to a full-time engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as part of the Europa Clipper Ground Support Equipment group.

Echazarreta began her television career as "Electric Kat" on a segment of Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove.[10] She is continuing with the show into its fourth season. She is now also a co-host of Netflix's YouTube series, Netflix IRL.[11][12]

Spaceflight

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The Space For Humanity initiative selected Echazarreta to fly to space with Blue Origin NS-21 as a Space for Humanity Ambassador.[13][3][14] Launched on June 4, 2022, she became the first Mexican-born woman in space. The five other crew members were Evan Dick, Hamish Harding, Victor Correa Hespanha, Jaison Robinson, and Victor Vescovo. This was the fifth crewed flight operated by Blue Origin, and their 21st flight overall to reach space. The mission lasted approximately 10 minutes, reaching an altitude of 107 kilometers.[2][15][16][17]

She has stated that visiting space is a lifelong dream of hers and that she is humbled to represent "all of the little girls and women out there who are dreaming of achieving something bigger."[18][19] She partnered with McDonald's for the HACER Education Tour, speaking to high schools around the United States to share her story and information about the HACER National Scholarship.[20]

Echazarreta has spoken to Mexico's congresses Senate of the Republic and Chamber of Deputies in support of increasing STEM education for women and expanding Mexico's spaceflight program.[21]

In 2023, she founded Fundación Espacial, "a non-profit civil association, with the main social objective of promoting youth, women and children, as well as scientists and engineers from Mexico, to develop skills to carry out advanced studies in the space, planetary, protection of the planet and the environment".[22]

Modeling

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Echazarreta appeared on the October 2022 Vogue México y Latinoamérica cover.[23][24] She presented a talk at Vogue Mexico's Forces of Fashion, discussing her experience with fashion not being fully welcome in STEM and how she is working to break down those stereotypes.

She was also named one of Glamour México y Latinoamérica's 2022 Women of the Year.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Jalisco reconoce a Katya Echazarreta, primera mexicana en ir al espacio". Excélsior (in Spanish). 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  2. ^ a b "Blue Origin launches six people to suborbital space". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  3. ^ a b "A San Diego City College alumna will become the first Mexico-born woman to fly in space". 9 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  4. ^ "ABOUT". Kat Echazarreta. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  5. ^ "Conoce a Katya Echazarreta, la primera mexicana que viajará al espacio". El Diario NY (in Spanish). 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  6. ^ "UCLA Engineering Alumna Inspires Others through Work at NASA JPL". Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  7. ^ "Alumni Highlight – Katya Echazarreta | CEED". Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  8. ^ Papathomas, Thomas; Farkas, Attila; Grace, Tom; Kapadia, Alistair; Papayanopoulos, John; Vlajnic, Vanja; Lovoulos, Sophia; Echazarreta, Katya; Li, Yuan (2017-09-01). "Depth-Inversion Easillusions and Hardillusions: Differences for Scenes and Faces". Journal of Vision. 17 (10): 316. doi:10.1167/17.10.316. ISSN 1534-7362.
  9. ^ "Katya Echazarreta | LEMUR". uclalemur.com. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  10. ^ "Katya Echazarreta". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  11. ^ "Netflix IRL". Mary Risk 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  12. ^ "Meet Katya Echazarreta, the First Mexican-Born Woman To Go to Space | HISPANIC Network Magazine". Hispanic Network Magazine | A Hispanic News Source. 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  13. ^ "NS-21 to Fly Six Customer Astronauts, Including First Mexican-Born Woman to Visit Space". 9 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Space For Humanity to Send its First Ever Citizen Astronaut to Experience the Overview Effect Aboard Blue Origin's Next New Shepard Flight". 9 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  15. ^ SEL (2022-05-17). "Who is Katya Echazarreta, the first Latin American to travel to space". Mazatlán Weekly. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  16. ^ "Katya Echazarreta, la primera latina nacida en México en ir al espacio". CNN (in Spanish). 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  17. ^ Zawadzki, Eduardo Scheffler (11 May 2022). "Katya Echazarreta was once told". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  18. ^ "Introducing S4H's First Citizen Astronaut: Katya Echazarreta". Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  19. ^ Speck, Emilee (2022-05-13). "Katya Echazarreta wants others to live through her Blue Origin spaceflight experience". FOX Weather. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  20. ^ "INTERVIEW: Katya Echazarreta Talks Importance of Education & 'Mexican Mission to the Moon'". Remezcla. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  21. ^ Guillén, Beatriz (2023-01-12). "Katya Echazarreta: 'I want to return to space, but I want to go there with Mexico'". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  22. ^ "CONÓCENOS". Fundación Espacial (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  23. ^ Estaff, Remezcla (2022-10-11). "Katya Echazarreta, First Mexican-Born Woman To Go to Space, on Cover of Vogue México". Remezcla. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  24. ^ "'Mi meta personal es llegar a la Luna': Katya Echazarreta, la primera mexicana que viajó al espacio". Vogue México y Latinoamérica (in Mexican Spanish). 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  25. ^ "Katya Echazarreta nos revela las lecciones que la han convertido en un icono de la ciencia". Glamour México y Latinoamérica (in Mexican Spanish). 2022-11-03. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
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