Latin American children chat with astronaut by satellite

MEXICO - With the return of human beings to the Moon, as well as the exploration of Mars, Mexico has an important opportunity for the development of large projects, assured the general director of the Mexican Space Agency (AEM), Salvador Landeros Ayala.

In a videotaped message projected prior to a talk by Mexican and Latin American students with astronaut Frank Rubio, the Mexican official highlighted the importance of space.

He mentioned that Mexico participates in the Artemis program and that a woman astronaut will travel to space on behalf of the country.

This was an unprecedented event that summoned the participation of children from different countries in the region.

Ana Cristina Olvera, host of the Iberoamerican Scientific and Cultural news program, who is also a spokesperson for NASA in Spanish, was in charge of the program.

With questions such as "What do astronauts eat?", "How do you deal with feelings of loneliness in space?" or "How do you feel about being an inspiration for Latinos?", were some of the questions that were posed to the U.S. astronaut, of Salvadoran origin, Frank Rubio.

Meanwhile, Mexican astronaut Katya Echazarreta sent a message to all those children who dream of traveling to space, because conditions in Latin America, she says, are not an absolute impediment to achieve their goals.

"Sometimes we are told that these dreams are too big, but the hardest and most important thing is to believe that we can and to believe that this dream can be for you," she said.