By Emily Kim Jenkins, Contributing Writer
De’Schzunell Catlin always remembered to look up.
As a child, he was fascinated by airplanes. In middle school, he recalled hearing the sound of an F-18 fighter jet roaring overhead and falling in love with the sound. It wasn’t long until Catlin found himself dreaming of exploring far beyond what we can see from all the way down here.
Now, with an extensive professional background ranging from the U.S. Air Force to NASA, Catlin is embarking on his biggest mission yet. As space becomes less of a mythical, esoteric concept to everyday Americans, Catlin is working hard to ensure all of its promise doesn’t become exclusively held by just a handful of wealthy individuals. His goal: settlements on the moon (which he believes will be a reality by the end of this decade!) and missions to Mars staffed and implemented by teams that represent an accurate reflection of the planet we (currently) inhabit.
Born and raised in Southeastern San Diego, where he still resides with his wife and children, Catlin is committed to serving the community. “The beautiful thing about Southeast San Diego is [that] I can experience so many different cultures without leaving home. That diversity really helps you appreciate people and their uniqueness, and prepares you also to interact with people in the world because you already have that intercultural understanding, respect and love,” he said of his affection for his hometown.
As the oldest son to a single mother, Catlin was no stranger to responsibility and obstacles from a young age. In middle school, he enrolled in the Preuss School at UCSan Diego, a charter program for low-income, first-generation aspiring college students. In La Jolla, where the thunder of fighter jets often burst through the sky, he knew immediately he wanted to work with planes. His grandfather took him to the Miramar Air Show, where his fascination became a determination.
“I wanted to be involved with planes in every single way. I wanted to design them. I wanted to fix them. I wanted to jump out of them. I wanted to fly and do everything with them,” he said, “Then it just expanded from there. I wanted to understand – how do we push the envelope in aerospace? And there’s no higher envelope expansion than space.”
His grandfather gave him a telescope and that was it. Catlin knew it would take more than just some lucky stars aligning to make his dream come true. He was accepted into Morehouse College, but after his firstborn arrived, he joined the U.S. Air Force to help provide for his new family. Catlin recalled those days as particularly difficult, balancing military service with a college education and a newborn, “but it was that desire to achieve that dream of working for NASA that made me keep going, push through and be resilient.”
It wasn’t long before Catlin became an engineer at NASA, where he worked for a decade, becoming a manager and participating in the team that discovered water on the moon. After ten years of work that makes Catlin beam with pride while talking about, he started to feel that same itch that drove him to space in the first place – how else could he push that envelope?
