Ramon’s Universe (Part 1)

Ramon Hernandez was a familiar face at the NASA facility in Houston, having spent nearly two decades as a maintenance man there. At the age of 48, he had become something of an institution himself, known for his distinctive blend of competence and clumsiness. While he was undoubtedly the go-to guy for fixing leaky pipes and unjamming stubborn doors, his colleagues often shared stories of occasional mishaps that earned him the endearing nickname of "Disaster Zone Ramon."

Not that Ramon was without skills; he was literally a jack-of-all-trades. An electrician, a plumber, a house painter, a roofer, an auto mechanic, a household appliance repairman, a landscaper, and a gardener, you name it. With minimal schooling or practical training, Ramon could do it all. Sometimes, he was a little hasty in his approach, covering up imperfections and even working them into the finished job.

Ramon relied heavily on instincts, common sense, and a can-do attitude. Every task was manageable for him. He'd find electronics, computers, and TVs discarded by neighbors, take them home, disassemble and reassemble them like new. His home was filled with items he had either made himself or refurbished. A home, by the way, he built from the ground up. Okay, so what if the front porch was a little lopsided? It was built to last forever.

One fateful day, while Ramon diligently did his routine cleaning tasks, he found himself inside a high-security facility area. There, set about on a launch pad, stood Ganymede, a top-secret space exploration craft whose name was derived from the largest moon in our solar system. Ramon stood back and admired the craft, perched high atop a rocket launcher extending through an opening in the facility’s rooftop, reaching the sky above. It was a sight to behold.

"Ay, chingado!" Ramon excitedly blurted out to himself. "Check this s**t out! Mamacita, mamacita! All of my friends, with their dumb-ass low-riders—they haven't seen anything!"

Unable to resist, Ramon's eyes wandered around Ganymede's exterior. His rough hands traced the sleek exterior as he marveled at the technology before him. It was as if the dreams of his youth, long buried under the daily grind of maintenance work, came flooding back.

"You are a real beauty, my friend! A real beauty! I want to take you to the moon! Yeah? No, maybe further than the moon, damn!"

Ramon's aspiration to become an astronaut traced back to an inspiration kindled by the achievements of the first American of Mexican descent to venture into space: Jose Hernandez. While it was confirmed that Jose Hernandez had been born in the United States, much of his formative years were spent in Mexico. In a remarkable twist of fate, Ramon and Jose shared not just a surname but also a familial connection, both hailing from La Piedad in the state of Michoacan.

Ramon couldn't help but share this intriguing connection with his co-workers, proudly declaring, "He's like a second or third cousin to my father's family." It was as if the cosmos had conspired to link him to the world of space exploration, and that bond, however distant, resonated deeply within him.

As a young adult, Ramon began to dream of becoming the first Mexican-born astronaut, a dream nurtured in his early adulthood by the stories of Jose Hernandez's achievements. However, as life's practicalities and responsibilities took hold, the dream slowly receded into the background, obscured by the everyday demands of life and raising a family. Nevertheless, he jumped at the opportunity to work at NASA and took pride in being at the facility daily, even though his work was far from being an astronaut's.

Now, Ramon was many things—curious, adventurous, and, of course, a bit too impulsive—but he was never one to back down from a challenge, especially when it came to anything resembling a "fancy" gadget. As Ramon stood before this remarkable vessel of human ingenuity, he couldn't help but feel a resurgence of that youthful ambition of flying to the stars, even if it was just a fleeting moment to satiate a fanciful dream.

Ramon looked around carefully, hopped onto a long ladder extending to Ganymede's capsule, and entered the space vehicle through an open hatch. His heart raced with excitement as he contemplated the possibilities that lay before him.

"Hey, poca madre! This is some jazzy stuff in here!"

Ramon's attention shifted to the ship's expansive instrument panel—a dazzling array of lights, buttons, switches, and screens, each piece of technology more intricate and mysterious than the last.

Ganymede's master con