Ellen Ochoa Essay

Ellen Ochoa once said, “Don’t be afraid to reach for the stars,” and she has certainly lived up to the saying. Because of her outer space discoveries and missions as an astronaut, she has not only helped shape Florida history, and that of the continental U.S. as well. She has played a huge role in how hispanic americans have influenced Florida because she defied the odds to become the first female hispanic astronaut, and paved the way for future women and latinos to achieve their goals. `To begin, Ellen Ochoa is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable astronauts alive, which many wouldn’t have thought possible because she was female and had hispanic heritage. She documented almost 1,000 hours total in orbit, which is one of the greatest records in history. Some of her flights include the STS-56 ATLAS-2, STS-110 Atlantis, and the STS-96 Discovery. But becoming an astronaut was no easy feat. Journalist …show more content…
In addition to being the first latina astronaut, she is now the first hispanic director of the Lyndon B Johnson Space center, and its second female director. She also has contributed much to science and engineering. According to Jason Roberts of NASA, “She is a co-inventor on three patents and author of numerous technical papers in the area of optical information processing,” Even though only 12.9% of engineers are female, she proved that any person of any race or gender can be influential to science. For her work, she has received many honors, some of which include the Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award, HENAAC Engineer of the Year, Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award, as well as NASA’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal. Many of these awards have barely been won by latinas or women in general, and she sets a great example for future generations that you can accomplish anything even when other doubt you because of your