Adriana's science adventures began in the 1960's in Buenos Aires, Argentina. By age eight she had already decided on a life of space travel. No one had yet landed on the Moon or even left Earth's orbit, but that didn't stop Adriana. She conducted imaginary Moon missions on her rooftop terrace with crew members Juanita and Tauro, her doll and pet fox terrier.

When Adriana was 14, she wrote to NASA in her native Spanish, asking to work in space. It didn't matter to her that back then most of the people working at the U.S. space agency were English-speaking men twice her age.

After high school graduation in 1973, Adriana accepted a job at JPL. She helped collect data from radio dishes—giant "ears" that listened to radio waves given off by some stars. Adriana loved her job because she worked on projects with the world's best scientists and engineers. She also managed to balance work with studies at Pasadena Community College.

In December 1969, when Adriana was almost 15, her family moved to Los Angeles, California. Adriana was nervous, but excited: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was nearby! In 1972 the JPL and the Boy Scouts of America teamed up to create Space Exploration Post 509. Adriana jumped at the chance to join when Space Explorers came to her high school to recruit students.