damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo, and today--he went into outer space, today he's here en tierra firme. astronaut josé hernández on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪ cc by aberdeen captioning www.aberdeen.io 1-800-688-6621 damian: now, we begin with an effort to get kids into space. with me is andres martinez, who is with nasa ames here in the bay area. he's also part of the hispanic advisory committee for employees at nasa. andres is my guest-- andres, welcome back to "comunidad del valle." andres martinez: hey, thank you, damian. it's a pleasure to be with you again. i was with you two years ago.

damian: i remember, and it was so exciting. but what you do--before we get about what you're doing-- to what you're doing with the kids, tell us about what you do there at nasa. andres: okay, so my official position at nasa is program executive, and my focus is small spacecraft. so we use small spacecraft to explore the--to explore space. so right now i have five missions in my portfolio that three of them are going to be going to the moon-- orbiting the moon. and, you know, in space terminology, we say they're going to prospect for water. they're going to be looking for water, right? we know there's water on the moon, and two of my missions are going to document where all the water is. and then two other missions are going to take off into deep space. one of them is going to be encountering an asteroid and it's going to do a flyby of this asteroid, and it's going to be imaging and sending us all these incredible photos of this asteroid. damian: andres, tú lo dices como si nada.

you say it like nothing, but this is huge. this is amazing. andres: it's--i tell the-- everyone that i have the best job in the world. damian: i--yeah, i don't doubt it, sure seems like it. but you don't want to relish in your excitement on your own. you want the future to do it as well. talk about what you're doing with kids. andres: absolutely, so, at nasa ames research center, the center director five years ago, he asked me to help nasa recruit more hispanics. and so i became involved with hace, the hispanic advisory for committee--committee for employees, and we started destination space with the east san josé community, alum rock community. we partner with the alum rock union school district. and since 2016, we've held this event. it used to be one evening only where i would invite all my colleagues here from nasa and from silicon valley, from google, from intel, from facebook. about a hundred of us would come and show up, and for one evening

we would showcase what we do, you know, where we work. because of the covid pandemic, last year we were not able to do it. but in 2019 was the last time that we held this event in person and we had over 1,400 folks from the east san josé community join us. it was an incredible success. in 2020, we were planning to hold the event again, but because of covid we were not able to, right? we're all sheltering in place at home. so my colleagues started contacting me, and they asked me to consider holding the event through the--you know, virtually through zoom. at first i didn't think that was a good idea, but then i thought we cannot allow for two years to go by without holding the event because of the momentum we had built. so we began destination space this year in february.

the theme in february was mars 2020 because if--you may bn the mars' surface, and also ingenuity. so i invited my colleagues from jpl who are actually working on mars 2020, and the rover and also on the mars helicopter. and so in february we had about 15 incredible conferences, incredible talks, where the people that actually worked on the mars 2020 came and told the kids what they actually did for mars 2020. in mars--in march, the focus was going back to the moon. i am a program executive within the advanced exploration systems division, and we're responsible--my division is responsible for everything to go back to the moon. so i invited all my colleagues, my coworkers. and again, we showcase everything that we do to go back to the moon.

in aprcelebrate earth day. plan and nbc bay area. yesterday, v&a presented will be presenting. in april we celebrate planet earth. damian: now, that's beautiful, you know, the-- true story, last week, i turned on a sci-fi channel and i'm watching the--you know, with the specifics of jupiter. my daughter, who's an alum rock student, seventh grade, says, "dad, you're a nerd." tell us what you get--the reaction you get from the first graders, the kindergarteners, how big their light-- their eyes light up when they see what they're seeing. andres: you know, that's really what makes it really worth it because--you know, we--i had not organized an event like this virtually. i had no experience doing this. so the first couple of days it was all a learning experience. the first day, the minute the kids--the students came in, they were allowed to come in to our sessions, and they saw what i their reaction was, "oh my god, nasa.

is that really nasa? oh my god, this is the best day of my life." and so since the first couple of sessions, i've asked the school district to not mute their mics because i want to capture those moments, those golden nuggets, right? and so--you know, we're recording all these sessions. they're available on youtube, and you--you know, so that everyone can go back in and view them. it's amazing. they're getting presentations from folks that are world-renowned. they're--you know, they're the best at what they do. damian: it's wonderful. i wishthere's information entireon the screen.about this. it's called destination space by nasa ames right here in our very own backyard. andres, no way to thank you and your colleagues for what you're doing to get our kids motivated to get into science, and engineering, and into space exploration. my hat's off to you in this. andres: thank you, damian. thanks for the invitation. damian: thank you so much.

and up next here on "comunidad del valle," an astronaut who has been there on space shuttle discovery. josé hernández is next. stay with us. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪

we're made for. used to just gaze up at the stars and wonder. when josé hernández gazed up at the stars, he actually went after them. josé is my guest here on "comunidad del valle." he was a mission specialist aboard space shuttle discovery sts 128, and now he's back to his roots and he's back on "comunidad del valle." josé, welcome back to the show. josé hernández: thank you, damian. pleasure to be here once again, and a big hello to everybody who's watching us. damian: all right, we'll get to your wine-making in just a bit, but i want to show a quick clip. and you've run this over and over, but it still gives me chills when i see it. talk about what you feel when you see video of the launch of, as you call it, your bird. josé: absolutely. absolutely.

well, you know, i also get chills when i watch it because, you know, it almost seems like a dream. you tell yourself, "i can't believe i strapped myself in a rocket." it's basically an exploding bomb that--a bomb that's exploding in a controlled fashion that goes from 0 miles per hour to 17,500 miles an hour in 8 1/2 minutes. i mean, it's the best ride disneyland could ever hope for. [speaking foreign language] but i tell you, it's the ride of a lifetime because you start feeling those g-forces coming on you as you accelerate. and by the time you're up to 17,500 miles an hour, it feels like three of your buddies are on top of your chest. it's so hard to breathe. you're almost hyperventilating. and it only takes 8 1/2 minutes and you're up about 300 miles above ground orbiting earth in space once every 90 minutes.

so it's the ride of a lifetime. you goosebumps when you see it. talk about the fact that you were told no many, many times. and it goes to show what perseverance does, what ganas does, what it takes to not take no for an answer. josé: absolutely, i always-- you know, the centerpiece of my talk when i go and talk to kids is the resilience part, is the perseverance part, is the telling them about my story as a migrant farm worker so that they know i started from a level that's probably even below them and yet through hard work, education, and as you say, damian, ganas, not giving up, you keep moving forward and you keep improving yourself

year after year. and i didn't care if nasa had rejected me 11 times. that 12th time, i eagerly submitted that application hoping for the best, and it did work out. i would have done it in 13, 14, 15th times because you know what? the mere fact that i want to be an astronaut got me to where i was which was an engineering degree, a graduate engineering degree, a good job at a premier research facility at lawrence livermore lab. so the way i looked at it, damian, i said, "this is not a bad consolation prize." so the getting assigned as an astronaut from nasa was the cherry on top of the whole cake. damian: a chicano rocket scientist. that really is incredible. we had andres martinez in our previous segment from nasa, and what he's doing is he's going out and talking to kids and taking space to kids virtually; the rotation around the moon looking for water, the mars landing, and whatnot.

talk about the importance of gettin doing what you did. josé: well, it's very important, damian, because, you know, you look at the--a crosscut of our country and you have a lot of diversity. you know, almost one in four folks have latino blood in them. and what really thrusts a country forward is technology and innovation. that's what keeps them competitive on and if we are to remain competitive, we need to engage every segment of society, including our latino brothers and sisters. there's the chavalitos. since they're small, get them interested in stem because i'll tell you our people are very talented. we just need an opportunity, and that's what i tell the kids.

i say, "you all got to believe in yourselves because you've got the talent. you've got the brains up here." and in our culture, también tenemos el corazón, we have the heart, so we can be resilient, we can persevere, and we got to move forward. we just got to believe in ourselves. we're our worst enemies. and i tell people, "believe in yourselves." and you do that, that's 90% of the battle. damian: great, great advice. and, boy, we're getting this for free from a chicano rocket scientist, astronaut, and now an entrepreneur. josé hernández, again, has his own wine-making business. it's out of the rich soiltierra luna cellars.ley.de we do have that information to show you on the screen because it's new, and he's taking orders. and what we're going to do is on our next segment, there's the web address on your screen, we're going to talk about how

josé has come full circle from farm worker, to astronaut, back to farm worker. so stay with us. ♪♪♪

mission specialist aboard sts 128 space shuttle discovery back in, wow, 2009, imagínate. and so i mentioned in my opening there, josé, that, you know, as a farmworker i would just gaze at the stars, but you went after them as a farmworker yourself. but now you're back to your roots. so we do have a different video we want to show you. talk about what you are doing now in the central valley. josé: oh yes, damian. you know, after i left nasa, i decided to come home because i thought it was very important for my kids to spend time with their grandparents. my parents are healthy. thank god.

my father's already 84, my mom's 80, but they're healthy. and i wanted them to spend time with them; good quality time. and then the opportunity came for me to own a 20-acre vineyard. and my wife's always wanted a house in the country. and one of these days, i think very soon, we'll go ahead and take the plunge and build a house around the vineyard. so once we had the vineyard, i took it as an opportunity for--to work with my father. and let me tell you, damian, these past four years that i've owned the vineyard has been the most satisfying for me because i've been able to spend good quality time with my father. my father, he's an expert in being able to run a farm. he worked in it all his life. and he's passing valuable skills to me in telling me, hey, when it's time to irrigate, when it's time to fumigate, how to take care of the vineyard. and it's just some good quality time with my father that i decided, you know, this is great.

and we sell the grapes to a wine producer, korbel. they make sparkling wine. and then i--you know, i get bored. so i said, "what's my next challenge?" i said, "hey, i have grapes. why not make grapes?" you know, a chicano making grapes. how cool would that be, and for an astronaut at that? and so that's how tierra luna cellars was born. and i started dabbling and making it after a couple of tries. this is the first year we're actually commercializing it, and it's all through the internet, tierralunacellars.com. and you can order it. we just bottled the first two varieties, this next week we bottle the third variety, and in may we're going to begin shipping, so that's not too far away. a couple of weeks and we're shipping our orders. we made a limited supply, so i always tell folks, "hurry up." just log on tierralunacellars.com and order yours. in a couple of weeks, i'm also going to be offering the first

100 bottles of each variety signed, autographed. and those are what i wouldn't recommend you open. i would say keep them as momento, as collectibles 'cause you never know. they may be worth, you know, that, and $26.99 will buy you a nice dinner. damian: is the taste out of this world, pardon the pun? josé: oh, yes, their names are even out of this world. you know, i figured--i said, "how can i name these wines?" 'cause the company obviously is called tierra luna cellars, but each variety has to--you've got to distinguish them. so the very first one i made is was some of my grapes, and i got some grapes from lake county; sauvignon blanc grapes. and since it was the very first one, i decided to say, "okay, what's the--i want to name them after constellations or a space thing." so "stella," which is in latin "star."

i said, "i'm going to call mine stella--" the very first one, stella nova, which is "new star." and then the next one is a zinfandel red. so i call it stella z. and then the third one, it's a blend, red blend of tempranillo, merlot, syrah, and petite sirah. so for that one i call it stella roja, "red star." and so that's the naming scheme of my wines. i'll probably keep up with that naming scheme, assuming people like that naming scheme. damian: that's awesome. did you ever imagine coming full circle again? josé: no, this is-- you know, things just work out the way they do, where you actually come full circle. and, you know, sometimes i'm there with my dad. we're there in the shade when it's nice and warm and we're working out there, and i'm giving instructions to folks fumigating or putting the fertilizer and all that, and my

dad sort of just incredulously nods and say, "to think that when you were a kid, you were side by side picking grapes with me, your mom, and your siblings, y mira que bonito." he says, "how great it is that now we're doing the same thing, but we're doing it for us because we're the boss." damian: that's exactly right. and who better to grow it than somebody who worked it, right? you know what you're doing, your dad knows what he's doing. josé: exactly, exactly, i mean, we're-- who better than who's been working it all his life. so it's great. and like i said, it's so satisfying that--you know, because my earlier years i've been so focused on being an astronaut and, you know, it took us away. it took us to washington, dc. it took me to russia. it took me to houston and away from my parents. and didn't spend a lot of years with them the time and right now at least, at least i'm going to be at peace with

saying, "hey, you know, i came back home the--all these years, and i'm spending good quality time not only with my father, but with my mother." damian: yeah, and even the name itself, tierra luna cellars, i mean--i'm going to you show that information though once again. the website for this new company, this new vintage that is out by astronaut josé hernández, there it is on your screen, tierra luna cellars. josé: yeah, tierralunacellars.com. and then the videos, we made them ourselves. my--you know, my small little consulting company, we said, "hey, we could do this, like, why pay someone?" so we're learning a lot of things and--doing all this stuff, and so we're pretty proud, the fact that everything is sort of like--we're going to basically organically grow this company little by little, poco a poco. but yeah, you wait. when you taste the wine, you're going to say, "hey, that astronaut makes some pretty good wine."

damian: there you go. well, we'll have more. we'll wrap it up in our next segment. so stay with us here on "comunidad del valle." wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are.

astronaut josé hernández, and i've asked you this before, josé, but if you can explain once again what earth looks like from outer space when you don't see any borders on it. josé: it's just-- you're simply in awe. you're humbled beyond words. you're speechless, as i mentioned, because i remember the very first time i saw the earth from the outside, you know, a privilege that probably less than 600 individuals have had that privilege to do so out of 7 billion people in the country. and to think, i'm one of them. and i remember the very first time i undid my seatbelt, started floating, pushed myself to the window, did my best superman impersonation 'cause now you're floating.

and then we were flying over north america. i was able to see canada, the us, mexico, a little but the beautiful thing was that i could make out canada, but i couldn't m i could make out the us, but i couldn't distinguish where the us ended and mexico began. and so on and so forth. and i basically said, "dios mío, i'm a--" i had to go out of this world to realize that borders are human-made concepts designed to separate us, and how sad because from my perspective we're all one down there. and i just wish our world leaders would get the opportunity and get that "aha moment" that i did because, damian, i'll guarantee you that if they did our world will be a much better place than it is today. damian: that's a beautiful way to put it.

i love hearing that story. we have a couple of minutes left, josé. i don't know if you want to talk about your children because they're on their way también. we'll let you wrap it up with whatever thoughts you have on your new-- josé: absolutely. i'm so proud of my kids. my oldest is finishing up wants to follow my footsteps.ae matter of fact, he's doing a two-week martian analogue mission with the mars group that is run by bill nye the science guy out in the desert of utah. then i have a daughter who's in stem, working on her master's in data science, very proud of her. and then we have another daughter, vanessa, who works in southern california. a graduate from the yolo miramar, and she's a big social influencer. look her up in tiktok by just looking her up @thevanessahernandez if you want to see me make a fool of myself. and then the youngest kid, we have antonio who is finishing high school and probably going to go to uc merced or university

of pacific, who'll major in mechanical engineering. he's a senior in high school, and we're looking forward to that, the last one in college, and once that's done, man, i'm done paying tuition. damian: that is incredible, and, josé, your final thoughts on just your new vintage, the tierra luna cellars. josé: oh well, we're very, very happy with how the wine has turned out. you know, i've tasted them already because they're now reaching their point and let me tell you, they're good. the white wine with--is refreshing for the summer. red wine goes with [speaking foreign language] meat, una carne asada, things of that nature, so try them out. just, you know, try them out and then write to me and see if you do like them. but i hope you do it soon because we will run out. we will sell out, we did a limited production run this year, so--pronto, porque si no, ya no haber. damian: wow, he went from farmworker, to space explorer

astronaut, and now back to work in the fields in the central valley; josé hernández. let me show you that information once again, this is-- josé: i'm the real farmworker astronaut. damian: el original. there is the web address of 128 back in 2009.rsip dis josé, i can't tell you how much i appreciate you coming on the show. what you've mean to our community and what you've done with your life is inspiring to a lot of us. josé: damian, un abrazo, and a big hello to everybody watching us in comunidad del valle. and it's always a pleasure to be on your show, amigo, muchas gracias. you keep doing what you're doing because you inform our gente, and we're very appreciative of that. damian: appreciate it. gracias, un abrazo. and thank you for watching "comunidad del valle." we'll see you once again. [speaking foreign language].

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i'm sara gore, and this is "open house." this week, we are exploring the very best in beach living, including this oceanfront estate right in new york city. i bet you didn't see that coming. and of course, we're in malibu to check out this sleek, modern hillside home. plus, we take a trip out east to visit this sagaponack sanctuary. but before all that, we are taking a special trip out to catalina island where we visit one of its most enan : as you come into avalon harbor, there's two structures that you notice, t other is holly hill house. let's go take a look inside. come on. [theme music]