From Brownsville to Mission Control
From Brownsville to Mission Control Victor De Los Santos — 8 June 2020 "I have always had a passion for all things space-related ever since I was younger. I was that stereotypical kid who said 'I want to be an astronaut." - Alex Zamora Emmanuel Alex Zamora, Engineer for the International Space Station Alex Zamora (known by his friends as Alex) was born and raised in Brownsville and, just like many others, he grew up with dreams of working in the space industry. After graduating from Hanna High School in 2011, Zamora decided to continue his education at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2016, and after gaining a couple years worth of hands-on experience with energy providers — including an internship with the Brownsville Public Utilities Board — he was ready to make his dream a reality. Soon after, Zamora found a job listing that aligned with his interests and experience, applied, and became an electrical engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in direct support of the Electrical Power System (EPS) of the International Space Station. The International Space Station (ISS) takes 90 minutes to complete an orbit around Earth. For the greater part of the orbit, the ISS is powered by the Sun, using its Solar Array Wing (SAW) to turn solar energy into usable…