Katya Echazarreta: Spaceflight taught me not to sacrifice relationships for career

Mexican-American engineer and astronaut Katya Echazarreta says her spaceflight taught her not to sacrifice personal relationships for career goals, a lesson she now shares as she leads her own space foundation. Echazarreta became the first Mexican-born woman in space in June 2022 aboard Blue Origin's NS-21 mission. She worked on five NASA missions, including the Perseverance rover and Europa Clipper, before founding the Katya Echazarreta Space Foundation to support aerospace education in Mexico. The foundation provides scholarships and training for talented children, with some students already earning placements at MIT and in France. Echazarreta, now 31, says losing her phone containing irreplaceable spaceflight memories helped her realize the importance of prioritizing family and friendships over professional ambitions.