Woman of the Week: Ellen Ochoa

Welcome to our 11th #womanoftheweek! Today, we will be discussing Ellen Ochoa, a Latina astronaut and electrical engineer! Enjoy!

Major Accomplishments:

- First Latina to go to space

-Former director of Johnson Space Center

Ellen Ochoa is an engineer, astronaut and the former Director at the Johnson Space Center. She was born in Los Angeles on May 10th, 1958 to Mexican- American parents. She earned her master’s degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University in 1981. She also earned her doctorate from Stanford in 1985. Ochoa played the flute at the Stanford orchestra, and even brought one on her first space mission.

Ellen Ochoa served as a research engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center, and led a group working on optical systems for automated space exploration. After being selected into the astronaut training program in 1990, Ochoa became the first Latina astronaut in 1991. Following that major accomplishment, Ochoa became the first Latina to go to space in 1993. Her first mission was STS-56, which lasted for nine days. Ochoa and the other crew members focused on studying the sun, and how it reacts with the atmosphere of the Earth. In addition to STS-56, Ellen Ochoa participated in STS-66, STS-96 and STS-110. Later, Ochoa became the Director of Johnson Space Center, becoming the first Hispanic to do so.

Ellen Ochoa has had a life full of firsts. Her four space missions logged her about 40 days (960 hours) in space. There are several schools named after her, such as the Ellen Ochoa Elementary School in California. In addition, she earned NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2015. In addition, she has written several technical papers for NASA, and she is the co-inventor on three patents. As of right now, Ochoa continues her service by taking a part in several boards like the National Science Board.

What did you want to be when you grew up when you were little? Comment below!