BOISE, Idaho — Talk about shooting for the stars - literally! In 1993, Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to ever go to space.
Ochoa had quite the astronomical career before deciding to retire to Boise five years ago. A move she credits to fellow astronaut Barbara Morgan, whom Ochoa stated, "really loved the area."
The former astronaut spent a total of 41 days in space. "It was certainly a hugely exciting mission," Ochoa said.
"We're orbiting every hour and a half. And so, we have a chance to just see, really the entire populated region of the earth as we, during our mission, as we're going over. And then the other thing is living and working in an almost zero-gravity environment where everything's floating."
Ochoa was a research engineer before becoming an astronaut. She first ventured out into space in 1993. "The mission was really designed to do research in space that you couldn't do on Earth," she elaborated. "And we were specifically on that mission studying the Earth's atmosphere."
As Ochoa recounted her experience in the cosmos, particularly the challenges of simply walking after returning to Earth.
"You feel very heavy right at the beginning, it's kind of hard to stand up," Ochoa said. "So, you know, can be a little bit hard to walk a straight line at first."
In addition to being the first Hispanic woman to go to space, Ochoa was a trailblazer in more ways than one.
She would later go on to become the director for NASA's Johnson Space Center in 2013 - making her the second woman and first Hispanic to ever do so.
"When I was growing up, but even today, you often don't hear about people with very different backgrounds," Ochoa stated. "Without the special attention of Hispanic Heritage Month, a lot of people wouldn't have heard of me or other people that are often highlighted. And I think that's a loss, because it's often role models who get kids thinking about, well, you know, what would I like to do? What kind of high goals can I set for myself, particularly in the STEM fields, science, technology, engineering and math."
"Women aren't well represented, Hispanic and Latin X community is not well represented at all. And we need we need those people. We need all the bright minds," Ochoa continued. "I would occasionally run into people who just really couldn't picture me, you know, either where I was or where I was interested in going. Yet I always also had people who encouraged and supported me."
Although now retired, Ochoa was involved with NASA for 30 years. She now spends her days visiting schools and speaking at events to help inspire and inform the next generation. Her talks often explore the importance of hard work, overcoming challenges and the value of teamwork.
Ochoa recalled being in graduate school when the first space shuttle took flight. It was the mission of which female physicist and astronaut, Sally Ride, was a passenger.
"She was the first American woman in space. She also had majored in physics. She had gone to Stanford, which is where I was currently getting my PhD. I think three years after that, the first Hispanic American, Franklin Chang Diaz, flew," Ochoa said. "So, this was a career that was now open to people like me. Whereas, before Sally Ride's class was selected, you know, women weren't allowed to be astronauts."
It was a mere five years later when Ochoa's dreams soared to new heights.
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