"Ramon's Universe" (Part One)
The Unbeliveable Story of How A Mexican Maintenance Man Saved NASA
Ramon Hernandez was a familiar face at the NASA facility in Houston, having spent nearly two decades as a maintenance man there. At the age of 40, he had become something of an institution himself, known for his distinctive blend of competence and clumsiness. While he was undoubtedly the go-to guy for fixing leaky pipes and unjamming stubborn doors, his colleagues often shared stories of his occasional mishaps that had earned him the endearing nickname of "Disaster Zone Ramon."
Not that Ramon was without skills, he was literally a jack-of-all-trades. An electrician, a plumber, a house painter, a roofer, an auto mechanic, a household appliance repairman, a landscaper and gardener, you name it. With very little schooling or practical training, Ramon could do it all. He was just a little hasty in his approach sometimes, covering up for imperfections along the way and even working them into the finished job.
Ramon relied heavily on instincts, common sense, and can-do. No task was too big or small for him. He’d find electronics, computers, and TVs discarded by neighbors, take them home, disassemble and reassemble them like new. His home was filled with items he had either made himself or refurbished. A home, by the way, he built from the ground up. Okay, so what if the front porch was a little lop-sided, it was built to last forever.
One fateful day, while Ramon diligently went about his routine cleaning tasks, he found himself inside a high-security area of the facility. There, set about on a launch pad, stood Ganymede, a top-secret space exploration craft, whose name was derived from the largest moon in our solar system. Ramon stood back and admired the craft, perched high atop a rocket launcher that extended through an opening in the facility's rooftop, reaching toward the sky above. It was a sight to behold.
“Ay, chingado!” Ramon excitedly blurted out to himself. “Check this shit out! All of my friends, with their dumb-ass low-riders, haven’t seen anything!”
Unable to resist, Ramon's eyes wandered around Ganymede's exterior. His rough hands traced its sleek surface, as he marveled at the technology that lay before him. It was as if the dreams of his youth, long buried under the daily grind of maintenance work, came flooding back.
“You are a real beauty, my friend! A real beauty! I’d like to take you to the moon! Yeah? No, maybe further than the moon, damn!”
Ramon's aspiration to become an astronaut traced its roots back to a childhood inspiration that had been kindled by the achievements of the first American of Mexican descent to venture into space: Jose Hernandez. While it was true that Jose Hernandez had been born in the United States, much of his formative years were spent in Mexico. In a remarkable twist of fate, Ramon and Jose shared not just a surname but also a familial connection, both hailing from La Piedad in the state of Michoacan.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Michael Arturo to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.