Dr. Ellen Ochoa
AMERICA’S FIRST HISPANIC FEMALE ASTRONAUT
Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to earn the right to wear the highly coveted Astronaut’s wings, and fly into space aboard the STS (Space Shuttle). She was born in Los Angeles in 1958 and is married to Coe Fulmer Miles of Mofalla , Oregon . They have two children. Her hobbies include cycling and volley ball. She is a classical flutist and a certified FAA private pilot.
Ellen graduated from Grossmont High School, La Mesa, California, in 1975, and went on to get her Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from San Diego State University in 1980. She eventually received a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University .
As a doctoral student at Stanford, and later as a researcher at the Sandia National Laboratories and NASA’s Ames Research Center , she was involved in the research on optical systems for performing information processing. She is the co-inventor (three patents) for an optical inspection system, an optical object recognition method, and a method for removing noise from complex images. As Chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at Ames , she supervised 35 engineers and scientists in the research and development of the computational systems for aerospace missions.
Dr. Ochoa became an astronaut in July, 1991. Her technical assignments included serving as the crew representative for flight software, computer hardware and robotics. She is now a veteran of four space flights and has logged over 978 hours in space. She was a mission specialist of STS-56 (Space Shuttle mission in 1993), was the payload commander on STS-66 (a space mission in 1994) and was a mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-96 (1999) and STS-110 in 2002.
The STS-110 (April 8-19) 2002, was the 13th Shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station. Significant milestones during the 11 day mission included: the delivery and installation of the S0 (S-Zero) Truss; the first time the station’s robotic arm was used to maneuver spacewalkers around the station, and the first mission wherein all of the shuttle crew’s spacewalks were based from the space station’s Quest Airlock. Dr. Ochoa, along with Expedition-4 crewmembers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz, operated the station’s robotic arm to S-Zero, and to move crewmembers during three of the four space walks.
Dr. Ochoa has received many special honors for her brilliant work in the field of aerospace. She received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal (1997), the Outstanding Leadership Medal (1995), and Space Flight medals for her four flights, as well as two Space Act Tech Brief Awards. She received the prestigious Albert Baez Award for Outstanding Technical Contributions to Humanity, and the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. Dr. Ellen Ochoa is truly one of America ’s greatest leaders in the field of aerospace science and technology.
Younger youth. What an exciting experience it would be to put on a custom-fit pressurized space suit made just for you and climb into the cockpit of a space shuttle several hundred feet up in the air, knowing that your shuttle is attached to a monstrous rocket filled with tons of explosive fuel. Imagine the sensation of feeling that incredibly powerful rocket’s four huge engines rumbling to life as they erupt huge clouds of smoke and flame underneath you. And then you feel the tremendously forceful lift off that soon hurtles you like a bullet into space in just seconds. And that’s just the beginning! There are the many technical tasks to be done inside the space capsule, the experience of working in a weightless environment, and then transferring to work in the space station orbiting at 18,000 miles per hour over 200 miles high above the Earth, where you conduct important scientific experiments, and do so much more. Imagine what it would be like to eat or sleep under such conditions. Dr. Ochoa knows — she’s done it four times. But there’s one thing Dr. Ochoa has not experienced. She does not smoke marijuana or abuse drugs. She’s simply too smart for that. She has worked hard her entire life to prepare herself to accomplish her many achievements, and despite her many awards and honors, she’s not done yet! Dr. Ochoa would tell you in a minute that she would never consider jeopardizing her health, much less her reputation and record of achievement by doing anything as stupid as abusing drugs. Dr. Ochoa appreciates the importance of living drug-free. And isn’t that what we should all do? Drug-free! Way to be!
Older youth. By any measure, Dr. Ochoa certainly leads an interesting and exciting life. She is centrally involved in state of the art technological research that will help open tomorrow’s pathways to space. Even very few astronauts can claim to have flown on four key missions into space. Now all of this didn’t just happen by chance. Dr. Ochoa has worked hard her entire life to make these opportunities and accomplishments possible. Her Doctorate Degree from the prestigious Stanford University in Electrical Engineering is but one example of her capabilities and potential, as well as her focused, unswerving motivation to achieve. Dr. Ochoa’s unrivaled record of achievement epitomizes excellence in every respect. Her accomplishments reflect the importance of proper preparation and focused commitment, as well as awareness and appreciation of avoiding high risk behaviors like drug and alcohol abuse. Dr. Ochoa would certainly be one of the first to tell anyone that abuse of marijuana, alcohol or other dangerous drugs would likely spell disaster for anyone striving to learn and achieve. Dr. Ochoa is drug-free. Way to be!
This curriculum is sponsored by the Drug Demand Reduction
Program of the Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters
Maxwell AFB, Alabama
