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Malaga
Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 09:10
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At 17, Martín Sierra is not only the son of the writer and Planeta Prize winner Javier Sierra, from whom he has inherited his interest in science and research, for he has his own ambitions. This Malaga native, although based in Madrid (his maternal grandparents and his uncles, aunts and cousins still live in Malaga), has just finished his first year of Bachillerato and is focused on fulfilling his personal dream: to be an astronaut. This year he is returning for the third consecutive year to Nasa's Space Camp for young people in Huntsville (Alabama), while he is already preparing - a year earlier than the norm - to study for a degree in Aerospace Engineering at a North American university.
-You have been at Nasa's summer camps for two years and have also won the medal for the best student at camp. Do you see yourself as one of the next Spanish astronauts?
-No, no. Becoming an astronaut is a very difficult thing to do. It's been my dream since I was a baby, when one of my first gifts right after I was born was a Nasa onesie my father bought me that said on the nappy changing part: 'Houston, we have a problem'. I would love to become an astronaut one day, but it requires a great deal of physical and psychological mastery, specific studies...
-In these two years you have already experienced something of what it is like to be an astronaut. What is the best and what is the worst thing about it?
-The worst thing is that you're not in space all the time, although you're away from home... and I'm very much a home bird. The rest is wonderful.
-Your father winning the Planeta Prize and you wanting to conquer them?
-That's one way of putting it, yes (laughs).
-What would you take with you into space on your first space trip? I'm sure you've thought about it...
-Well, not really.
-Maybe the ukulele you always take with you to the Nasa camp?
-I would probably take a book with me. Maybe Don Quixote, because all great adventures always begin with someone who starts out dreaming like him. I have always felt very connected with him because in the end each one of us, in some way, is a little bit Don Quixote: we pursue our ideas many times without thinking that others might think we are crazy, that we are not right or that we are not going to get there. In the end, only those who decide to dream, get on their horse, put on their armour and go out to ride are the ones who get to do great things, which is an inspiration for me.
-And wouldn't you take churros from Casa Aranda that you like so much?
-I took that as a given! And fish from Los Mellizos (laughs).
-What do you miss most about Malaga?
-What I love is the sea. But not so much bathing, but going out in the evening, going to Muelle Uno, looking at the horizon and seeing the sea. Malaga has a very special energy.
-Do you have any superstitions? I don't know if astronauts have any rituals?
-Not particularly. I remember a book written by an Apollo astronaut who said that no astronaut went into space with his fingers crossed. There is so much work behind it, so much preparation, that there is no need to indulge in superstition.
-And do you believe in God?
-In the end, what matters is that our beliefs unite us and not separate us. And, of course, to believe in something that always does good and wishes good for everyone. I think it's super interesting and super useful.
-Do you have time for hobbies other than thinking about space travel?
-I've been playing with Lego bricks since I was 3 years old. And anything that is rocket-related or similar in Lego, that's where I'll try to raise the money to get them.
-What would be your dream, adding a geeky touch?
-That they would let me name my own spaceship, if I ever go into space, the Millennium Falcon or something like that (laughs).
-By the way, who is lucky enough to know Stephen Hawking?
-I met him in 2014 in Tenerife. I saw him in the hotel reception where we were staying. I approached him and he was very friendly. He asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and, of course, I said astronaut. Since then, my dream of being an astronaut is almost a promise I made to Dr Hawking.
-And what does your mother say about all this, because you know what mothers are like?
-Nobody ever likes to go far away, but if I can make it happen, she'll come with me (laughs).
-So you're really close....
-Yes, yes. I am very connected to my family.
-And what do your classmates say to you at school?
-Every time I have an oral presentation or some important work where I can talk about space, I do it and put on my astronaut suit. So my classmates already see it as a normal thing.
-Since we are in the middle of the Olympic Games, what are you Olympic about?
-I would champion against those people who want to destroy other people's dreams. I've always had an unusual dream and I've never particularly liked football, for example. That, when you're little, makes everything much tougher at school. That's why I've learned to ignore such things.
-And do you have any plans for tattoos in mind?
-Oh, no, no, no, no. I have a horrible fear of needles. Every time I have to take a blood test or something like that, I have a terrible time.
-Which superhero would you like to be?
-Superman, but because beyond flying, his ideal is always to try to make the world a better place. That is his greatest superpower, and it is a superpower we can all have.
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