1 Space Maestro Ellen Ochoa is a space and science pioneer She is an accomplished astronaut And she leads thousands of other astronauts and scientists at NASA Since 1993 Ochoa has traveled into space four times and spent almost 1,000 hours there Her first trip made history Ochoa was the first woman of Hispanic descent to go into space During her space missions Ochoa put her science and computer skills to work Back on Earth Ochoa continued to make history In 2012 she became the first Hispanic director of NASA’s Lyndon B Johnson Space Center JSC She is only the second woman to hold this title Space travel and leadership were not Ochoa’s first successes Before NASA she helped create three patented scientific inventions She was also a classical flute player Ochoa credits her achievements to her education which she took seriously from a young age 4
2 Star Student Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10 1958 in Los Angeles California She spent most of her early life in La Mesa California Ellen considers this city her hometown She has four siblings Ellen’s mother Rosanne Ochoa raised them on her own Ellen’s father left the family when Ellen was young It is from him the Ochoa children received their Mexican heritage Raising five children kept Rosanne busy But continuing her education was important to her Rosanne took one college class at a time throughout Ellen’s childhood She studied everything from biology to business Rosanne’s devotion to learning made a strong impression on Ellen and her siblings The Ochoa children did well in school Ellen was especially good at writing math and science STELLAR The mission that brought the first people to the moon was part of NASA’s Apollo program The Apollo program lasted from 1961 to 1972 6 In 1969 when Ellen was 11 years old the first astronauts landed on the moon This was an amazing achievement for scientists and explorers Many Americans including Ellen watched coverage of the event on television Ellen watched the moon landing
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin pictured were the first people to walk on the moon They placed a US flag on the moon
