Making History Space shuttle Discovery stood ready on April 8 1993 Five astronauts sat inside Four were men The fifth was Ellen Ochoa She was ready for her first trip to space Two huge rocket boosters launch the shuttle Discovery into space in 2006 5 Chapter 1
The countdown happened smoothly The engines started Fire shot out of the shuttle’s rockets Discovery launched It rose into the sky The rockets lit up the night The flight lasted nine days On the trip Ochoa traveled 3 9 million miles 6 3 million km She orbited Earth 148 times Did You Know Did You Know Part of Ochoa’s job was using the shuttle’s robotic arm 6
Ellen Ochoa back left poses with the rest of Discovery’s crew during her first mission to space Ochoa was a mission specialist She ran science experiments She studied Earth’s atmosphere And she became the first Hispanic woman in space 7
