Ellen Ochoa, Ph.D. First Latina Astronaut & Former NASA Director
Reaching for the Stars
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an Diego State alumna Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina astronaut in U.S. history. A trailblazer at NASA, Ellen’s nine-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1993 was her first of four missions. She also has three patents for space research inventions. Ellen grew up with a passion for science, math, and music. She was Grossmont High School’s valedictorian in 1975, and then pursued physics and engineering degrees, unusual for a woman in the 1980s. Further inspired by the first American woman astronaut, Sally Ride, in 1983, Ellen was accepted into the NASA Astronaut Training Program in 1991, where she was selected as one of 23 finalists. Earning her private pilot’s license made her a stronger candidate for the job, she believed. As the first Latina to head the NASA Johnson Space Center (2013-2018), her vision was to lift others up in science spaces: “What everyone in the astronaut corps shares in common is not gender or ethnic background, but motivation, perseverance, and desire—the desire to participate in a voyage of discovery.” At the 2019 SDSU President’s Lecture Series, she shared that her own voyage of discovery started with family. Her paternal grandparents came from Mexico to Arizona and settled in California. By the time Ellen was in junior high school, her inspiring mother was raising Ellen and her four siblings alone, and taking one SDSU course each semester until she graduated in 1982. Ellen earned her bachelor’s degree in physics at SDSU in 1980 and her master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University—while also finding the time to play as a classical flutist for the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. She took her flute on her first space voyage—and ate flour tortillas! She said, “they are very flexible—for sandwiches, breakfast burritos, even space s’mores…a favorite food of crews because they don’t leave crumbs like bread.” Now, Ellen advocates for the next generation of “astronauts, scholars, who will go on to accom- plish more than we can imagine.” That outreach includes writing bilingual children’s books on science and engineering. Ellen was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2017. On May 3, 2024, President Joe Biden presented her with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
First Latina Astronaut Ellen Ochoa wearing a blue flight suit, January 10, 1997. (Photo courtesy © NASA Johnson Space Center)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 7 – Latino Notables
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