Editor’s Note: The following interview was conducted in Spanish and translated for English reading audience.
HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) – A Spaniard Space X enthusiast has made an everlasting commitment to spreading the love of space travel and technology to a younger generation, and as a reminder to herself of that commitment, she has tattooed her favorite company’s logo on her arm.
Nathalie Bolivar’s love for the cosmos reached new heights last year after watching the aerospace company’s historic Crew Dragon launch.
The mission, known as Space X Demo-2, made history by being the first private-public partnership to take humans to space from American soil.
“My passion for Space X really developed in May 2020 with the Crew Dragon demo launch, but between 2011 and 2015, I was watching [Space X’s] evolution and I thought it was incredible,” said Bolivar.
While in recent years, Space X has been at the center of her universe, she has had a love for the cosmos and technology since she was 5 years old.
“I was always looking at the sky and the stars and the moon; I was very drawn to space,” she explained.
Bolivar told her family about wanting to take that interest further and her dreams of becoming an astronaut, but she was discouraged.
“All my family told me that I couldn’t be an astronaut because I was a woman, and woman couldn’t go to space because they wouldn’t be able to get pregnant,” beliefs, she feels, were ridiculous and outdated.
Despite her family’s sentiments, Bolivar excelled in math and science in school but was once again met again with disdain, this time from a teacher.
She was told that women should take interest in literature and philosophy instead of math.
“I began to lose interest in math and got a degree in philosophy,” she said.
Nevertheless, her curiosity persisted and to this day she checks up daily on the latest developments in aerospace technology and Elon Musk’s endeavors.
Recently, she has shown her support for Space X by tattooing the company logo on her forearm.
In a Facebook post, Bolivar shared photos of her new tattoo and she wrote, “I did it!! I’m crazy, I know, I don’t care, life is once and I live it with my passion!”
The only regret Bolivar has in life is not perusing her dreams of becoming an aerospace engineer and astronaut. And she is working to make sure others do not have that same experience.
She is working to develop programs to cultivate an interest in space and engineering in kids and adolescents, especially girls.
“I want them to know what Elon and Space X do so that they can become part of the evolution as future engineers, astronauts, and a variety of other professions once thought not possible for women,” said Bolivar.
One dream Bolivar still has is to watch a Space X launch from Boca Chica. The only thing that stands between her and that dream is a distance of over 5,000 miles.
“I think I would cry with excitement,” said Bolivar.
