As a child, he dreamed of becoming a pilot and astronaut, but it was after moving with his family to Houston when he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to space exploration. "My father, who was a merchant marine, was transferred there when I was 17, and one day we visited NASA. Since I was a kid, people talked to me around the campus, and when you see how they work, it's impressive," recalls Ernesto Álvarez (Santander, 52 years old), one of the very few Spaniards who are part of the staff at the Johnson Space Center of the space agency in Houston. His mission: to ensure that humans can survive on the Moon.
This engineer from Cantabria is one of the scientists dedicated to making the Artemis program a reality that Donald Trump launched in 2017 to see astronauts walking on the Moon again, as a step before reaching Mars. Since 1972, when the crew of Apollo 17 returned, no one has returned, but the plan is for both Americans and Chinese to reach the lunar surface in this decade. Both aim to plant their flag at the South Pole, where water is believed to exist. Who will achieve it first? The issue has sparked a new and exciting space race, especially due to the delays the NASA roadmap is experiencing, which initially planned to land on the Moon in 2024 with the Artemis 3 mission - now scheduled for August 2027. The Chinese plan is to send their taikonauts - as Chinese astronauts are known - before 2030.
Ernesto Álvarez has been part of two programs directly linked to the return to the Moon. After several years involved in the technical supervision of the equipment and technologies that astronauts will need to survive on our satellite, which is the responsibility of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility program, he is now working on the Orion spacecraft program.
We took the opportunity to interview him during his visit to Madrid at the beginning of his vacation. "I have a month off, which is quite compared to other jobs in the US," he says. He met his wife, who is from Madrid and works in the banking sector, in Santander, and they have two daughters, who were born in the US. "We come every year. We usually spend a few days in Cantabria, and now that my daughters are older, we travel to other areas because I want them to know Spain," he says while posing next to an astronaut mannequin. We agreed to meet at the Planetarium, where you can still see the exhibition Artemis: the magic of the Moon.
During that inspiring visit to NASA he made at 17, he saw that many astronauts are trained as engineers or doctors. "Medicine never attracted me, so I chose to enroll in aerospace engineering at the University of Texas in Austin, which had a pretty good program and is three hours away from Houston."
He explains that NASA centers have a lot of contact with universities across the country, especially with those in Texas, to recruit interns who do internships at the agency and aerospace companies before they finish their studies: "When I finished my postgraduate studies, Lockheed Martin called me, which is a company that had many contracts with NASA, and they hired me for the shuttle program. I was there before and after the Columbia accident," he says, referring to the tragic explosion that occurred on February 1, 2003, as the spacecraft was returning to Earth, resulting in the loss of the seven astronauts on board. "Everything stopped until the investigation was completed," he recalls.
Artistic recreation of astronauts collecting moon samples.
The problem that caused this tragedy originated during the launch of the spacecraft: a piece of foam insulation detached from the external tank and struck the left wing of the shuttle, causing a crack. "As a result of the accident, one of the improvements we made was to place sensors on the shuttle's wings to detect impacts," explains the engineer, who was part of the team that designed them.
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Álvarez remembers the day of the accident very well: "That's when you really realize the importance of the work we do, and you are aware of what can happen if you make a mistake. Unfortunately, although you try to anticipate all possible anomalies, sometimes you don't realize until it happens," he reflects. "Following the investigation report, a series of changes began to be implemented, one of the main ones being that an independent engineering division was created, which is where I currently work, and so to speak, it is responsible for analyzing any type of hardware or equipment that you are going to send into space - spacecraft, suits, etc. - to evaluate what the technical risks are. If you detect any, you report it, the type of risk, and how it could be minimized, and then they decide what to do. You are completely independent," he assures.
When Lockheed Martin obtained the contract for the Orion spacecraft, he was moved to this program: "And four years ago NASA called me to ask if I wanted to work with them," he recounts. Since then, he has been part of the staff at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "I love it because it allows you to work on many projects, they usually let you choose, and there is quite a bit of flexibility."
Álvarez lives a 15-minute drive from the NASA Johnson Space Center. "I start at 8 and leave at 6, although it depends on what needs to be done. Right now, we are preparing the Artemis 2 mission [in which four astronauts will orbit the Moon]. We want to have everything ready by the end of the year or early 2026 because the goal is to launch the mission by the end of 2026," says the engineer. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, especially with his family: "We have a large car and we go to Colorado and places like that, and we have formed a group of Spaniards in Houston that we usually meet for lunch. I also love reading and I am a big movie buff. With the heat, there is a lot of indoor life."
Although he usually does not mention that he works at NASA, he admits that people are very interested when they find out and he feels proud to be part of the project to send humans back to the Moon: "It is very exciting, both children and adults want to know more, and it is nice to see that what you do interests people. It helps you return to work with enthusiasm, instead of focusing so much on the technical work with your colleagues," the engineer says. Although it was done half a century ago, he believes that "there is excitement" about seeing astronauts on the Moon again: "We are going to do things we have never done before, and that is something that brings people and countries together because many people collaborate towards a common goal that is not economic. If you want to explore the Solar System, you have to start from the beginning, and we are laying the foundations for the future of space exploration."
There are also people who continue to question whether NASA astronauts have been to the Moon: "I tell them that there are many ways to prove it. There are rock samples they brought back, the flags they placed are still there, and the photos and videos can be analyzed. In addition, the Apollo program involved thousands of people for many years, and if it had been a hoax, someone would have brought out some evidence, as it would not have been possible to control so many people to prevent something like that from coming to light," argues Álvarez, who believes that there are people eager to spread misinformation. "During the unmanned Artemis 1 mission, five minutes after publishing the first photo taken by the Orion spacecraft in space, there were already people saying that everything was fake and done with photoshop."
The Artemis 1 mission launched on November 16, 2022, kicking off the new US lunar program. The Orion spacecraft he now works on was launched aboard the imposing SLS rocket and orbited the Moon for 11 days without a crew. His daughters and wife were with him at Cape Canaveral to enjoy the takeoff: "We were all very excited," Álvarez recalls. The next step will be Artemis 2, a 10-day mission in which astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen will orbit the Moon in late 2026. If all goes well, we will see humans walking on the Moon again in 2027, with the Artemis 3 mission. But there is still much work to be done, and many voices within the industry consider this to be a very optimistic date.
Adding to the delays in the development of some components is the uncertainty that Donald Trump's presidency has plunged NASA into. Nine months into his term, he still has an acting director—Trump unexpectedly withdrew his nomination of millionaire Jared Isaacman, a friend of Elon Musk, in June following his split with Musk. Furthermore, his administration has proposed cutting nearly half of NASA's budget, which would primarily affect scientific missions and has sparked a wave of protests and criticism among agency employees and the entire aerospace community. "We continue to work normally, especially in my case because we have the mandate to carry out the Artemis 2 mission next year. And in extravehicular activities, we continue working with pressurized suits or rovers (robotic vehicles)," he notes. "The good thing about NASA is that you have many opportunities to work. If one program is canceled, you can move on to another, but nobody likes cuts."
The pressure Elon Musk exerted on the US president to prioritize a mission to Mars also raised concerns about the future of the Artemis program beyond mission number 3, in which astronauts will return to the Moon. However, the Tax Act—the Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress a month ago—provides funding for the launch of Artemis missions 4 and 5 with the American SLS rocket, which Musk wanted to replace with his Starship. "The tax act provides financial support for missions beyond Artemis 3. We'll have to wait to see how Congress allocates the money to have a definitive plan, but now the path to the Moon is more clearly visible."
The development of a version of the Starship vehicle that NASA has ordered from SpaceX, which will dock in space with the Orion crewed spacecraft and then descend to the lunar surface with two of the mission's astronauts, is also not progressing at the desired pace. The latest tests conducted in Texas ended in a fiery explosion: "SpaceX does a lot of testing, failures happen, and it's better that they happen during testing. You have to keep in mind that some of the technology in these programs is complicated, especially if you want to do it as safely as possible. The launch of Artemis 1, for example, was significantly delayed due to fuel leaks."
Another key aspect of the lunar return is the suits the moonwalkers will wear: "They're much more comfortable than those used in the Apollo program, and they're made for both men and women. Before, there was a one-size-fits-all design, and certain things weren't taken into account. They're more durable, practical, and lighter because they'll have to perform jobs that require greater physical effort, collect samples, and use tools for longer periods of time. They're more ergonomic because it's quite difficult to move around the Moon and get up after falling."
The goal is for Artemis astronauts to spend increasing amounts of time on our satellite and eventually establish a colony: "Maintaining a semi-permanent base will require everything and systems to survive the frigid lunar nights and temperature changes. Traveling on its surface will always require wearing a spacesuit or traveling in a pressurized vehicle like the one being developed by the Japanese agency JAXA."
It will also be essential to devise ways to supply energy to astronauts, and in that regard, a few days ago, the acting director of NASA, Sean Duffy, announced that they will accelerate the development of a nuclear reactor for the Moon so that it will be ready by 2030. Water is the other key element: "We are largely going to the South Pole because there is a chance there will be ice. And if there is, you can get hydrogen for fuel, oxygen for breathing, and obviously water for drinking and for growing hydroponic gardens. The goal is to have greenhouses, and that's why so much research is being done on the International Space Station (ISS) with plants and also on the physiological effects," he points out. "Life in space is less glamorous than in the movies. You have to work a lot, and astronauts have almost no time to enjoy themselves, although, of course, being in space is glamorous in itself, and when they can rest and appreciate where they are, it's incredible."
Speaking of movies, he found The Martian, based on the book of the same name, to be "quite reliable." He also liked the series For All Mankind and the film Ad Astra, starring Brad Pitt.
The debate about whether it's preferable to return to the Moon or focus efforts on traveling to Mars is still ongoing. Álvarez believes that "we could go directly to the red planet," but he is in favor of returning to our satellite: "This way you take smaller steps that allow you to understand your limitations. And on a personal level, I prefer it because I would like to be part of all this. Going to Mars is an incredible challenge; we'll see how it's done, but it will be more long-term," he says.
One of the main challenges is rocket and spacecraft propulsion. "Both the engine and the fuel are heavy. The journey to the Moon takes about three or four days; you accelerate once and you're done. If you could accelerate continuously, the journeys would be much shorter. One possible solution would be to replace chemical engines with nuclear engines, which would allow for continuous acceleration," he notes. Another advantage of the nuclear engine would be the ability to generate "artificial gravity" by providing constant acceleration. With this artificial gravity on the spacecraft, the deterioration of astronauts' health during such a long journey would be alleviated.
The Spanish engineer has abandoned his plan to become a professional astronaut, although he admits that the idea of traveling into Earth orbit still excites him greatly: "I applied once to join the NASA program; normally, you have to apply three times before you have a chance of being selected, but I didn't apply again. I love what I'm doing." I get up in the morning, and for me, going to work isn't a sacrifice. I tell my girls that when you work at something you love, it's not work," Álvarez assures.
Fulfilling his dream of traveling to space, even as a space tourist, is "very complicated." Little by little, these experiences are beginning to become reality with suborbital flights (reaching an altitude of about 100 kilometers) and missions to Earth's orbit, until now reserved for millionaires. "Traveling to space won't be an everyday occurrence, but it will become more common, and once private companies see the demand, space tourism will develop," he points out. However, he doesn't believe the Moon will become a vacation spot, not even for the richest: "We have to take into account the implications not only from a technical perspective, as it would require a lot of preparation, but also from a safety perspective and also psychologically, as it is a distant and isolated place."
An astronaut, he explains, "has many years of training. For someone without equivalent training, any small problem will become a huge one. We have to do things safely because we wouldn't want a space tourism business to impact the rest of the programs."
A future colony on the Moon would be permanently subject to various hazards: "You're totally exposed to asteroids and micrometeorites because there's no atmosphere, and therefore the surface is riddled with craters. And another thing we realized during the rovers' designs is that there are craters that are hidden and undetectable unless you have infrared. Astronauts will have to be careful with their suits because if you fall, there's a risk of hitting a rock and making a hole in the suit. And another problem is lunar dust, which gets everywhere and can clog the gears," he lists. For all these reasons, even when we successfully reach the Moon, he emphasizes, "we will have to always be alert and take extreme safety precautions. While we're there, we'll be learning."