A Scientist Who Reached Orbit
Ellen Ochoa was born in California in 1958, and her family roots reach back to Mexico. She loved music and math, and she was very good at both. She studied physics in college and then earned a doctorate in electrical engineering at Stanford University.
Before she ever thought about flying in space, Ellen was an inventor. She worked on optical systems — machines that use light and cameras to "see." She is a co-inventor on three patents, including a system that inspects objects for flaws and a method that helps a computer recognize what it is looking at.
NASA chose Ellen to be an astronaut in 1990. In 1993 she rode the space shuttle *Discovery* into orbit and became the first Hispanic woman in space. Over four missions she spent almost 1,000 hours off the planet. She operated the shuttle's robotic arm, studied the Sun, and helped deliver supplies to the International Space Station.
Later, Ellen led NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the home of American astronaut training. She was the first Hispanic person ever to direct it.
Words to Know
- engineer: A person who uses science and math to design and build things that solve problems.
- patent: An official document that says you invented something new, so others cannot copy it without asking.
- robotic arm: A machine arm, controlled by a person or a computer, that grabs and moves objects.
