1. 9/30/15 9:20 AMHispanic Heritage Spotlight: At Langley, Puerto Rican Engineer Helps NASA Reach for the Stars | News@LaRC
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Hispanic Heritage Spotlight: At Langley, Puerto Rican Engineer Helps NASA Reach for the
Stars
Posted on September 28, 2015.
Carlos Liceaga works at NASA Langley as an acquisition manager in the Science Office
for Mission Assessments. Behind Liceaga, his computer screen displays a photo of him
holding his granddaughter, born in August. Image credit: NASA/David C. Bowman
Carlos Liceaga remembers the big chill he felt when, as a college student, he traveled from Puerto Rico to Virginia to begin a co-op assignment at
NASA Langley.
It’s not that people were unfriendly. It was the temperatures that shook him to the core that winter of 1979.
“Puerto Rico is a tropical island. I had never been in winter, so getting here in January was quite a shock,” said Liceaga, who works at NASA
Langley as an acquisition manager in the Science Office for Mission Assessments.
Landing in New York in the middle of snowstorm, Liceaga and three fellow students from University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez found their
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2. 9/30/15 9:20 AMHispanic Heritage Spotlight: At Langley, Puerto Rican Engineer Helps NASA Reach for the Stars | News@LaRC
Page 2 of 3http://newsatlarc.larc.nasa.gov/?p=1691
connecting flight was canceled. They rented a van to drive south.
“The van broke down. We had to get out in the snow and push it,” Liceaga recalled. “We were baptized by fire in terms of the weather. That in itself
was an adventure.”
A new home
Thirty-six years later, Liceaga feels right at home here. He and his wife raised their three children in Newport News. With the exception of a couple
of detail assignments and a stint in Pittsburgh working on his Ph.D., he’s spent his entire career at NASA Langley.
These days, he helps to write Announcements of Opportunity for robotic scientific missions flying in space, such as those that explore the solar
system through the New Frontiers program, and assembles and leads the team that evaluates the technology, management, and cost of the proposals.
“The great thing about working here is you get to work on many interesting things, challenging things,” he said. “It’s a great environment with
people who are all working toward the same goal, who pull together as a team and help each other out.”
President Barack Obama is urging citizens to recognize the contributions of Hispanics to American society. In naming Sept. 15-Oct. 15 National
Hispanic Heritage Month, he proclaimed, “America’s Hispanic community has the same dreams, values, trials and triumphs of people in every
corner of our country, and they show the same grit and determination that have carried us forward for centuries.
“Let us renew our commitment to honoring the invaluable ways Hispanics contribute to our common goals, to celebrating Hispanic culture, and to
working toward a stronger, more inclusive, and more prosperous society for all,” the president said.
Myth busting
Liceaga is glad to dispel misconceptions about Puerto Ricans. “For starters, some people don’t know that people born in Puerto Rico are U.S.
citizens, or that it’s part of the U.S.,” he said. Puerto Rico is officially a commonwealth associated with the United States. “We’re a step up from a
territory, but not quite a state,” Liceaga said. “We don’t have official representatives in Congress but we have somebody we elect who goes up there
to lobby for us, if you will.”
He said that all Puerto Ricans take English in school, even if Spanish is the language commonly spoken there. “When I got here, I knew how to
speak English, but I had to learn the slang that you use here in Virginia, Southern slang. They don’t teach you that. That took some adjustment.”
The issue of race is very different in Puerto Rico compared with the United States as a whole, Liceaga said. The blurring of racial lines has a long
history in the island nation.
Carlos Liceaga enjoys running, biking and
kayaking. Here, he poses with medals and
ribbons he’s collected from years of racing.
Image credit: NASA/David C. Bowman
“When you say someone is Puerto Rican, he could be anything,” Liceaga said. “It could be somebody with light skin and straight hair. It could be
somebody with very dark skin and very frizzy hair. That doesn’t define us, or at least we don’t see ourselves as being defined by that. What defines
us is our culture.”
Keeping the beat
While fully acclimated to life in the U.S., Liceaga said he does miss some of the rhythms of his homeland. “I like dancing a lot,” Liceaga said. “I
don’t have any opportunities to go to places where they’re playing salsa and merengue.” The closest thing he’s found is Zumba at the gym where a
lot of the music is Latin flavored. Also, he plays congas with the worship band at his church, Warwick Memorial United Methodist, where he’s been
a member for 31 years. “I stay close to the beat that way.”

3. 9/30/15 9:20 AMHispanic Heritage Spotlight: At Langley, Puerto Rican Engineer Helps NASA Reach for the Stars | News@LaRC
Page 3 of 3http://newsatlarc.larc.nasa.gov/?p=1691
When he thinks about Hispanic Heritage, Liceaga thinks of his father, who passed away in 2014. His father worked full time and took classes at
night for seven years to earn his bachelor’s degree. His dad wouldn’t have been able to afford college if he hadn’t served in the Korean War and
become eligible for the G.I. Bill.
“He gave me a very good example for seizing opportunities,” Liceaga said. “When I talk about heritage and somebody I look up to and who gave
me a good example, it would be him.”
Sam McDonald
NASA Langley Research Center
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