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Ellen Ochoa, Ph.D
NASA Astronaut
Born: May 10, 1958
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
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Dr. Ellen Ochoa is the first Latina
Astronaut to go to space and is also an inventor and
electrical engineer. She graduated from Grossmont High School,
La Mesa, California, in 1975, then later in 1980 received a
bachelor of science degree in physics from San Diego State
University. She eventually went on to earn her master of
science degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from
Stanford University in 1981 and 1985.
Ochoa The Inventor
As a
doctoral student at Stanford, and later as a researcher at
Sandia National Laboratories and NASA Ames Research Center,
Dr. Ochoa investigated optical systems for performing
information processing. She is a co-inventor on three patents
for an optical inspection system, an optical object
recognition method, and a method for noise removal in images.
As Chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at Ames,
she supervised 35 engineers and scientists in the research and
development of computational systems for aerospace missions.
Dr. Ochoa has presented numerous papers at technical
conferences and in scientific journals.
Ochoa The Astronaut
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Ochoa became an
astronaut in July 1991. Her technical assignments to date
include flight software verification, crew representative for
flight software and computer hardware development, crew
representative for robotics development, testing, and
training, Assistant for Space Station to the Chief of the
Astronaut Office, directing crew involvement in the
development and operation of the Station, and spacecraft
communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control. A veteran of two
space flights, Dr. Ochoa has logged over 484 hours in space.
Dr. Ochoa is assigned to the crew of STS-96, a ten day
logistics and resupply mission for the International Space
Station scheduled for May 1999. In April 1993, Dr. Ochoa flew
as a Mission Specialist on STS-56, carrying ATLAS-2. During
this nine day mission the crew of Discovery conducted
atmospheric and solar studies to better understand the effect
of solar activity on the Earth's climate and environment. Dr.
Ochoa used the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and
capture the Spartan satellite, which studied the solar corona.
Dr. Ochoa was the Payload Commander on the STS-66 Atmospheric
Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 mission (November
3-14, 1994). ATLAS-3 continues the series of Spacelab flights
to study the energy of the Sun during an eleven year solar
cycle and to learn how changes in the sun's irradiance affect
the Earth's climate and environment. Dr. Ochoa used the RMS to
retrieve the CRISTA-SPAS atmospheric research satellite at the
end of its eight day free flight.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Ochoa’s NASA awards include the Exceptional Service
Medal (1997), Outstanding Leadership Medal (1995), Space
Flight Medals (1994, 1993), and two Space Act Tech Brief
Awards (1992). She is also the recipient of numerous other
awards, including the Women in Aerospace Outstanding
Achievement Award, The Hispanic Engineer Albert Baez Award for
Outstanding Technical Contribution to Humanity, the Hispanic
Heritage Leadership Award, and San Diego State University
Alumna of the Year.
At Home
Although Dr. Ochoa was born in Los Angeles, California, she
considers La Mesa, California to be her hometown. Dr. Ochoa is
married to Coe Fulmer Miles of Molalla, Oregon and they have
one son. In her spare time she is a classical flutist and
private pilot, and also enjoys volleyball and bicycling.
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