Daira Martínez Mejía pitches affordable astronaut training to Sheinbaum

A newly uploaded speech shows the young science advocate presenting her ambitions at an event dated November 2024.

Channel: MILENIO ·

MexicoStory of November 12, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of MILENIO's most watched videos since yesterday, with 79,993 views.

MILENIO: The Mexican news channel and newspaper of Grupo Multimedios. 8.3M subscribers and 7.7B views.

Pequeña genio de 9 años asombra al público y sorprende a Sheinbaum: "Tengo 5 libros"

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0:17Martínez Mejía takes the podium in an astronaut suit and encourages a louder greeting from the audience.
1:13She says she has published five books, with three already printed and copies reaching several countries.
2:02Her proposal aims to make analog astronaut training accessible regardless of participants' economic circumstances.
2:47She describes involvement with the European Space Agency and writing articles for the Mexican Space Agency.
3:20She presents Proyecto Fénix as a means of encouraging wider participation in science.

Daira Martínez Mejía steps up to the podium in an astronaut suit and asks the audience for a louder good morning. Her proposal to Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum is about opening a route into space science: training analog astronauts without money becoming a barrier.

Mexico's MILENIO published the footage on November 11, presenting Martínez Mejía as a nine-year-old. The event banner, however, identifies the gathering as the Encuentro de Estudiantes en Ciencias in Mexico City on November 8, 2024. This is an earlier speech, not a new presidential encounter.

Introduced as a student at Universidad América Latina, Martínez Mejía describes both her work and what she wants to build. She says she has published five books, three already in print, with copies reaching readers and institutions in several countries, including Nobel laureate Thomas Südhof. She also recounts giving dozens of talks, including appearances at Chapultepec Castle and Universum, the science museum in Mexico City.

The training proposal arrives midway through the speech. Analog astronauts take part in Earth-based simulations of conditions or tasks associated with space missions; the term does not mean they have traveled into space. Martínez Mejía wants economic circumstances not to prevent people from participating.

She goes on to describe involvement with the European Space Agency and articles for the Mexican Space Agency, then connects her ambitions to Proyecto Fénix, an initiative she presents as a way to spread interest in science and encourage more people to contribute.

Sheinbaum listens from the stage alongside Education Secretary Mario Delgado and other attendees. At the close, Martínez Mejía receives applause and embraces the president.

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