“I can fix this rocket,” the boy said — which he asked for in return left the scientists speechless.

Security guards barely reacted when a skinny, barefoot, panting boy ran into the lab.

“I can fix this rocket, sir,” he said in a trembling voice. In return, I just need my sister to be cured.

He had fear in his eyes, but an inexplicable security in his voice. No one understood how he had gotten there. No one imagined that this boy was about to change the destiny of a country.

The dream that had been ten years in the making

For a decade, the country’s top scientists had worked on a single goal: sending astronauts to the moon.

The National Space Research Center, located on the outskirts of the city, was an immense complex:
more than 100 hectares, dozens of buildings, supercomputers, engineers, physicists and electronics experts working as a single body.

It wasn’t just a launch.
It was national pride.
It was to show the world that the country could be at the height of the great space powers.

The day had arrived.

The whole country was watching

It was almost eight o’clock in the morning.
Giant screens showed the rocket ready on the platform. Everything was green.

Schools suspended classes to watch the launch.
Offices were stopped.
In towns and neighborhoods, people gathered in front of old televisions and cell phones.

But, just hours before liftoff, something went wrong.

The mistake that no one could explain

A strange piece of information appeared in the engine system.
The pressure dropped for a second… and then it would shoot.

The security system blocked the launch immediately.

The best engineers reviewed sensors, cables, modules, software.
Everything seemed correct.
And even so, the system still refused to authorize takeoff.

Time was ticking.
If it was not launched that day, the project would be delayed by weeks, with millions in losses and an international blow.

Meanwhile, on the street…

Miles away, in front of a station full of dust and noise, a boy was shining shoes.

His name was Mateo Ríos.
He was 14 years old.

I didn’t have sneakers of my own, just worn-out sandals.
His tool was an old brush and a can of shoe polish.

His father had died when he was nine years old.
He never knew exactly how.

Since then, his mother Lucía cleaned houses from early morning until night.
And her younger sister, Valentina, just 10 years old, was fighting an aggressive cancer.

The invisible enemy: Valentina’s illness

The doctors had been clear:
without a large hospital and expensive treatments, Valentina’s time was limited.

Chemotherapy, studies, drugs…
Everything was impossible for a family that could barely pay the rent and eat.

Mateo did the math every night.
He knew that, even if he worked every day of the year, he would never make the necessary money.

But Mateo had more than just the workforce.

He had a different mind.

The Abandoned Workshop and the Untitled Engineer

Near the station was an old abandoned workshop.
Rusty engines, broken spokes, old circuits.

At night, when no one was looking, Mateo would come in.
He disassembled engines, studied cables, tested connections.

I had no books.
I had no education.
He had no teachers.

He was curious, patient, and obsessed: to understand how machines worked.

Without realizing it, he was training as an engineer… in silence.

The unexpected opportunity

One day he found an old newspaper on the street.
One announcement caught his attention:

“Space Center is looking for technical assistants. Minimum requirements.”

The next day, in his best clothes, Mateo showed up at the door of the space center.

He had no degrees.
But when he was asked to prove what he knew, something changed.

Fixed a damaged engine.
He repaired a circuit in minutes.

The gazes were transformed.

They gave him the position.

The chaos before the launch

Months later, on the day of the launch he returned… and so is error.

The engineers were blocked.

Then, in the midst of the chaos, Mateo ran into the control room.

“Wait!” Let me see the data! he shouted.

Dr. Javier Salinas, senior scientist on the project, acknowledged this.
I had seen how this boy stared at screens for hours.

He gave it a chance.

The look that no one had

Matthew analyzed the telemetry silently.

“The sensor is fine,” he said finally.
The problem is not the hardware… it’s how the system interprets the data.

He pointed to a loop of code.
A minimal mistake. Invisible.
But lethal.

He asked for a week.

Against all logic, they gave it to him.

Seven days that changed everything

Mateo slept in the laboratory.
He reviewed code, compared versions, tracked bugs.

He found two small flaws that, combined, blocked the system.

He corrected them.

On the seventh day, he looked up and said:

“Now I do.

The launch

The countdown began again.

All in green.

10… 9… 8…
The engine started.

The rocket took off.

The room erupted in applause.

Mateo did not shout.
He just stared at the screen.

The real reward

“Sir… my sister,” he whispered.

The next day, Valentina was admitted to the best hospital in the country.
The treatment was covered by private donations, doctors and scientists.

Months later, the doctor smiled:

“The cancer is under control.

Valentina laughed again.

A new future

Mateo received a full scholarship to study aerospace engineering.
Dr. Salinas became his mentor.

And in every internal talk about that successful trip to the Moon, the same name always appeared:

Mateo Ríos.

The boy who shined shoes.
The boy who saved a rocket.
The brother who saved a life.

What do we learn from this story?

That talent doesn’t always come with titles.
That intelligence is not always learned in books.
That curiosity, responsibility and love can move mountains… or rockets.

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