First Hispanic To Go Into Space Enters The Hall Of Fame

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic astronaut to travel into space, will point to her multiple conquests one more: she will be inducted into the astronauts Hall of Fame on May 19 at the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, FL. It is an honor that astronauts like Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and Alan Shepard have already had.

In an interview with the EFE news agency, Ochoa was humbled by this recognition. "It's something I couldn't even imagine, obviously there have been people [those in the Hall of Fame] who have admired my whole life, it's really hard to imagine," he said.

The honored cosmonaut is currently the director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX - the first person of Hispanic origin and the second woman to run the center. Her merits also include having accumulated almost a thousand hours in orbit on four trips to space and having worked for almost three decades in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Ochoa, who has a degree in Science and a PhD in Electrical Engineering, explained that the center in her charge works in all areas of spacecraft design, development, testing and operation. “The goal is to advance the human presence in the Solar System and we would really like to reach Mars in the 2030s, it is a great challenge. It is a technological challenge, but it is also a budget challenge,”said Ochoa.

But that is not the only conquest that awaits you. With his story as an example, he would like to see more minorities in careers like hers. "Yes, we certainly want to see more women and more Hispanics in those fields," she said.

He also explained that there are great opportunities at NASA, not just for astronauts, but for directors and flight controllers, and a wide variety of engineers and scientists.