How did ellen ochoa change the world
How Ellen Ochoa Became the First Hispanic Woman to Go to Space
Dr. Ellen Ochoa is a Latina space pioneer!
She made history by becoming the first Hispanic woman to ever go to space. In 1990, Ellen Ochoa was admitted into NASA’s astronaut training and she became the first Latina in space in 1993 when she went on a nine-day mission aboard a space shuttle called Discovery.
Since then, she has gone into space 4 times and logged 1,000 hours in orbit. Ellen Ochoa’s missions include the STS-66, STS-96, and STS-110.
Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to ever go into space. Read on to find more about her accomplishments, education, and how she reached such an impressive goal.
Ellen Ochoa’s Accomplishments
Before she started her career as an astronaut, Ellen was an inventor and research engineer who created optical systems for aerospace missions. In 1990, she began working at the Johnson Space Center and was selected to be an astronaut.
Ellen Ochoa was the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas from 2013 until 2018. She was the center’s first Hispanic director.
Ellen Ochoa made history not just by being the first Latina in sp
Dr. Ellen Ochoa, first Hispanic woman in space, to keynote 2018 SACNAS – The National Diversity in STEM Conference
SACNAS is excited to announce that trailblazer Dr. Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman ever to go to space will keynote 2018 SACNAS – The National Diversity in STEM Conference. Dr. Ochoa is also only the second female Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center—where she led the human space flight corporation for the nation from 2013 to 2018.
During her speech at the opening ceremony of 2018 SACNAS on Thursday, October 11, Dr. Ochoa will speak to the resonant issues that have defined her historic career: What can we absorb about change, innovation, and the culture of teams from her time at the upper reaches of NASA’s leadership? And what can we do—really do—to secure that more women and minorities find a place within STEM fields?
Dr. Ochoa is a history-making astronaut, a brilliant inventor, a gifted corporate leader who left her mark on the culture of NASA, a role model for women executives, a hero of the Hispanic people, and a lodestar for discussions about females and minorities hunting scientific and technical fields. On stage, she brings i
Ellen Ochoa, Former NASA Astronaut and First Hispanic Woman in Space, Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
The former Johnson Space Center director logged four space shuttle flights and 1,000 hours in orbit over her 30-year career
Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go to space and one of NASA’s most decorated astronauts and leaders, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday, the country’s highest civilian honor. Across her 30-year career, Ochoa flew on four space shuttle missions and led operations as director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Ochoa is the tenth astronaut, and second female astronaut, to receive the Medal of Freedom. She was presented the award at the White House along with 18 other honorees, including Jane Rigby, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who played a large role in the James Webb Space Telescope’s mission.
“For most, the American dream is to be successful in whatever endeavor you choose here on Earth. For Dr. Ellen Ochoa, her dream was in the heavens,” President Joe Biden said at the ceremony last week. “Ellen was the first Hispanic woman to go to space, ushering in a whole new age of space explor
Ellen Ochoa and the Multiverse of Motivation
By Jeff Ristine
Friday, May 5, 2023
Nearly 30 years to the day after first returning to San Diego State University as an experienced Space Shuttle astronaut, alumna Ellen Ochoa was welcomed back to campus Friday for the dedication of a building bearing her name.
About 300 people, including students and several excited young children brought to the ceremony by a parent, gathered for a ribbon-cutting at Ellen Ochoa Pavilion, formerly West Commons.
“It’s wonderful to be recognized with my name on a building by my alma mater,” said Ochoa, the first Latina to go into space and a former director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “And certainly an honor that I could not have imagined when I was a student here.”
Continuing her long-standing and tireless role as an advocate for underrepresented students in science and technology, Ochoa said she still is dedicated to “getting the word out about the rewarding and challenging careers available in STEM fields.”
“Just as others inspired me, I hope that this building will serve to inspire a generation of Aztecs to reach for the stars,” she said.
Ochoa, who grew up in neighborin
Ellen Ochoa
Ellen Ochoa’s career offers an outstanding example of how invention can lead to adventure. She established herself as an innovative engineer and went on to become the world’s first Hispanic female astronaut.
Ochoa was born May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, but she grew up in La Mesa, California. Throughout her youth, she devoted herself to music as well as math and science. When she graduated from San Diego State University in 1980 with a BS in Physics, Ochoa was considering a career either as a classical flutist or in business. But instead, mindful of her mother’s insistence on the importance of education, Ochoa chose to enter graduate school at Stanford University.
When Neil Armstrong had first walked on the moon (July 1969), Ochoa was 11 years old. It never would have occurred to her then that she too might someday become an astronaut. However, in 1983, when Ochoa was midway between earning her MS (1981) and PhD (1985) in Electrical Engineering, Sally Ride became the first female U.S. astronaut. This gave Ochoa the encouragement to aim high. Upon gaining her doctorate, she applied to NASA to become an astronaut herself