For day 10 of our Women’s History Month celebration, we recognize: Dr. Ellen Ochoa!

Dr. Ellen Ochoa is an electrical engineer, the first Hispanic woman to go into space, and the first Hispanic director of NASA Johnson Space Center. A graduate of San Diego State University, Ochoa earned her bachelor’s in physics and later, her master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. She joined NASA’s Ames Research Center in 1988 as a research engineer where she served until 1990 when she was selected as an astronaut. In 1993, Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman in space when she embarked on her first spaceflight, STS-56. While on the nine day mission, Ochoa played her flute aboard the space shuttle Discovery’s aft flight deck. Following her first shuttle flight, Ochoa flew aboard STS-66, STS-96 and STS-110, almost logging 1,000 hours in space. In 2013, Ochoa became the first Hispanic director and the second female director of NASA Johnson Space Center.
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