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Ellen Ochoa Facts

Ellen Ochoa Facts
Ellen Ochoa is an American astronaut that became the first Hispanic woman in the world to travel to space. She was born May 10, 1958, in Los Angeles, California, to Joseph and Rosanne Ochoa. She grew up in La Mesa, California and graduated from El Cajon's Grossmont High School in 1975. She earned a bachelor of science and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1980 from San Diego University and went on to earn a master of science in 1991 and electrical engineering doctorate from Stanford University in 1985. Her work led her to the NASA Ames Research Center and eventually to space.
Interesting Ellen Ochoa Facts:
Ellen Ochoa patented an optical system that was capable of detecting issues in repeating patterns.
Ellen Ochoa co-invented an optical inspection system, a method for removing noise from images, and an optical recognition method.
While working at the NASA Ames Research Center Ellen Ochoa supervised a large group of engineer scientists who worked on developing computational systems for aerospace missions.
In 1990 Ellen Ochoa was selected by NASA to be an astronaut and became one in 1991.
In the Astronaut Office Ellen served as the crew rep for flight software, robotics, and computer hardware. She was also lead spacecraft communicator in Mission Control, Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, and the assistant for Space Station to the Astronaut Office's Chief.
In 1993 Ellen traveled to space for a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery and became the first Hispanic woman in space.
Ellen Ochoa is married and has two children.


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