When you see the planet from space, you don't see differences in humanity.
En la base aérea de San Javier, un joven de diecisiete años de A Coruña se convirtió en el único gallego seleccionado entre cuatrocientos aspirantes para vivir la ingravidez en el primer programa 'Astronauta por un Día' de España. Luis José Rivas Diéguez no solo flotó durante unos instantes sobre la Tierra, sino que regresó con una certeza que los filósofos han tardado siglos en articular: desde el espacio, las fronteras que dividen a la humanidad se disuelven y queda solo un planeta compartido. La ciencia, en sus formas más audaces, sigue siendo uno de los pocos caminos que devuelven al ser humano la perspectiva de su propia pequeñez y, paradójicamente, de su unidad.
- De cuatrocientos jóvenes que aspiraban a un lugar, solo treinta fueron elegidos, y Rivas fue el único representante de toda Galicia, lo que convirtió su selección en una victoria solitaria y significativa.
- Durante el vuelo parabólico, la gravedad desapareció por instantes y con ella las certezas cotidianas: el agua formó burbujas invertidas, los péndulos se aceleraron y los cuerpos flotaron como si las leyes del mundo hubieran sido suspendidas.
- El programa reveló una tensión inesperada: el sector espacial no pertenece solo a los científicos, sino que necesita abogados, comunicadores e ingenieros, ampliando el horizonte de quienes creen que el espacio no es su mundo.
- Rivas volvió a A Coruña con el título de Embajador Espacial de la Agencia Espacial Española y la misión de inspirar a sus compañeros durante el próximo año a acercarse a las carreras científicas y tecnológicas.
- Su mirada apunta ya a la Estación Espacial Internacional y a la física cuántica, impulsada por una convicción que el vuelo le confirmó: desde las alturas, la humanidad no se ve dividida, sino como una sola roca en el vacío.
Luis José Rivas Diéguez, estudiante de diecisiete años del Liceo La Paz de A Coruña, llegó a la base aérea de San Javier en Murcia como el único gallego entre los treinta jóvenes seleccionados a nivel nacional para el primer programa 'Astronauta por un Día', impulsado por el Ministerio de Ciencia y la Agencia Espacial Española. Para llegar hasta allí, superó un proceso exigente: expediente académico, un vídeo de presentación de menos de un minuto y un reconocimiento médico en el Centro de Instrucción de Medicina Aeroespacial. Cuatrocientos jóvenes lo intentaron; él fue uno de los treinta elegidos.
El corazón del programa fue un vuelo parabólico que recreó las condiciones de microgravedad que experimentan los astronautas en órbita. A bordo viajaron también la ministra de Ciencia Diana Morant y los astronautas españoles de la ESA Pablo Álvarez y Sara García. En esos breves instantes sin gravedad, los participantes realizaron experimentos: observaron burbujas de agua invertidas, comprobaron cómo un péndulo oscilaba más rápido y simularon caminar en la Luna o hacer flexiones en Marte. Rivas lo describió como algo 'alucinante' y subrayó que la experiencia tiene valor para cualquier persona, no solo para quienes sueñan con el espacio.
El joven, que obtuvo uno de los veinte premios extraordinarios en sus exámenes de cuarto de ESO, tiene la mirada puesta en estudiar física cuántica y, algún día, alcanzar la Estación Espacial Internacional. Lo que el vuelo le confirmó va más allá de la ciencia: 'Cuando ves el planeta desde el espacio, no ves diferencias en la humanidad. Solo ves una roca', reflexionó. Con los pies aún en la tierra, como él mismo reconoce, regresa a A Coruña como Embajador Espacial de la Agencia Espacial Española, con el encargo de inspirar a sus compañeros durante el próximo año a acercarse a las vocaciones científicas y tecnológicas.
Luis José Rivas Diéguez walked into the San Javier Air Base in Murcia in early May as one of thirty teenagers selected from four hundred applicants across Spain. The seventeen-year-old from A Coruña, a student at the multilingual Liceo La Paz school, had cleared every hurdle the selection process threw at him: the academic threshold, a one-minute video pitch showcasing his potential, medical screening at the Aerospace Medical Instruction Center. Now he stood alone as Galicia's sole representative in the inaugural Astronaut for a Day program, a government initiative backed by Spain's Ministry of Science and the Spanish Space Agency.
Getting here required strategy. Rivas submitted his academic record, then crafted a video presentation in under sixty seconds designed to stand out. He emphasized his interests, his connection to science, and what he hoped to gain from the experience. The competition was fierce—four hundred young people from across the country had applied. When the final roster was announced, it included twenty-five high school students and five university undergraduates. Rivas was the only Galician among them.
The centerpiece of the program was a parabolic flight conducted in conditions of microgravity. The aircraft traced controlled parabolic arcs through the sky, creating brief windows of weightlessness that mirrored what astronauts experience in orbit. Science Minister Diana Morant attended the flight, as did two Spanish astronauts from the European Space Agency—Pablo Álvarez and Sara García. During those moments of zero gravity, Rivas and his peers conducted experiments: they watched water form inverted bubbles, observed a pendulum swing faster without gravity's resistance, simulated walking on the moon and doing push-ups on Mars, and threw balls that maintained their trajectory in a straight line because nothing was pulling them down.
When asked to describe the experience, Rivas called it "crazy, amazing." He spoke with the clarity of someone who had just glimpsed something larger than himself. "I'd recommend everyone participate in this, not just people interested in space," he said. "It can enrich any kind of person, and this project makes it easier to access." He noted that most of the thirty participants were science students, but he'd learned something unexpected during his time at the base: the space sector needs people from every field—marketing, law, engineering, everything. Even the Spanish Air Force, he observed, was less rigid than its reputation suggested.
Rivas is planning to study physics, ideally with a focus on quantum mechanics. He earned one of twenty extraordinary awards in his fourth-year ESO exams based on his grade average. His ambition extends beyond the parabolic flight. He wants to reach the International Space Station someday. From that vantage point, he explained, perspective shifts. "When you see the planet from space, you don't see differences in humanity. You just see a rock," he said. "In space you can think big." Yet he added a grounding note: despite his theoretical bent, he sees himself as someone with his feet on the earth.
The program concluded by naming all thirty participants as Space Ambassadors of the Spanish Space Agency. For the next year, they will carry that title and the responsibility it carries—promoting science and technology, encouraging their peers to pursue STEM careers. Rivas, the sole Galician in a cohort that experienced weightlessness together, now carries that mission back to A Coruña.
Notable Quotes
It was crazy, amazing. I'd recommend everyone participate in this, not just people interested in space. It can enrich any kind of person.— Luis José Rivas Diéguez
When you see the planet from space, you don't see differences in humanity. You just see a rock.— Luis José Rivas Diéguez
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What was it like, that moment when the plane started the parabolic arc and you felt gravity disappear?
It's hard to describe without sounding like you're exaggerating. Your stomach doesn't drop the way it does on a roller coaster. It's more like suddenly nothing is holding you down anymore. You're floating, and for a few seconds, the rules you've lived with your whole life just stop applying.
You mentioned seeing the planet from space changes how you think about humanity. Did that feeling hit you during the flight, or later?
It hit me during. When you're weightless and you look out the window and see Earth, you realize how small everything is. All the borders, all the conflicts—they don't exist from up there. You just see one planet.
You're planning to study quantum physics. Does that ambition feel connected to this experience, or were you already headed that direction?
I was already interested in physics, but this made it real. It's one thing to read about microgravity in a textbook. It's another to live it. Now when I study, I know what I'm studying toward.
You were the only Galician selected. Did that feel like pressure?
A little, maybe. But mostly it felt like an opportunity. I want to bring what I learned back here, show other students that this is possible, that you don't have to leave Galicia to reach for something big.
What surprised you most about the other participants or the program itself?
That the space sector needs everyone—not just engineers and physicists. They need lawyers, marketers, communicators. And that the military isn't what I thought it was. The Air Force people were professional but human. That opened my mind.
What's next for you?
University, physics, and then hopefully the International Space Station. But first, I have a year as a Space Ambassador. That's the real responsibility—convincing other young people that science isn't just for the naturally gifted. It's for anyone willing to try.