Life Story: Ellen Ochoa (1958– )

Ellen Ochoa was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 10, 1958. She was the middle of five children to Joseph and Rosanne Ochoa. They raised their family in La Mesa, California.

Joseph was the son of Mexican immigrants and grew up speaking both English and Spanish. He experienced discrimination as a child and wanted to protect his own children, so he decided Ellen and her siblings would not learn to speak Spanish.

Rosanne only had a high school diploma when she started her family. However, she highly valued education and started college when Ellen was still a baby so she could set a good example for her children.

As a child, Ellen loved to read and her favorite subject in school was math. She excelled in school and won her county’s spelling bee at the age of 13. Ellen was also interested in music and started playing the flute when she was 10 years old.

Joseph and Rosanne divorced when Ellen was in middle school. She put all her energy into school and music to keep herself occupied during this emotionally difficult time. 

Ellen graduated from high school in 1975 and was her class valedictorian. Stanford University offered her a full scholarship because of her high grades, but she turned it down. Ellen wanted to stay close to her family and attended San Diego State University. 

Ellen wanted to study engineering in college, but since there were not many female engineers, professors encouraged her to study physics instead. Once again, Ellen excelled in school, and she was the valedictorian of her college class when she graduated in 1980. 

It was difficult for Ellen to decide on a career path. She did well in science, but also still loved music. During college, she continued to play the flute. Ellen decided she wanted to keep learning and pursued a master’s degree in engineering at Stanford University on a full scholarship. She was one of only a few women in her program, but she found a mentor in one of her professors, Joseph Goodman. He studied optics and inspired Ellen to enroll in a doctorate program after receiving her master’s in 1981.

Ellen worked with two professors on developing a new optical inspection system that made it easier to identify mistakes in repeating patterns. They received a patent for this system. Ellen went on to obtain two more patents in optics.

By the 1980s, the focus of NASA had shifted from moon landings to scientific study. Astronauts’ primary goal was to conduct research that could only be done in space. This was an exciting opportunity for scientists like Ellen.

On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride was the first American woman to go into space. To see another woman achieve this accomplishment was an inspiration for Ellen. Along with some of her classmates, she applied to the NASA Astronaut Training Program in 1985, the same year she received her doctoral degree. 

NASA selects a small group of people to train to become astronauts. They need to have at least a bachelor’s degree in a science field, but most astronauts have advanced degrees. Applicants also need to pass physical and psychological tests. Ellen was not accepted when she first applied, but she continued to chase her dream of going into space. 

Ellen got a research job at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California after she received her doctorate. She continued to work on optical systems for space travel. Her work on computers and information processing helped develop computer systems for space travel. Outside of work, she obtained a pilot’s license to fly small planes.

Another opportunity with NASA came in 1987. Ellen applied again and was among the top 100 out of thousands of applications. Unfortunately, she was not chosen to train as an astronaut.

The following year, Ellen got a new job at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Working for NASA got her one step closer to her goal of going into space. Ellen was promoted after a few months to chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Division. In this new role she was responsible for overseeing a team of 35 scientists.

Ellen met Coe Fulmer Miles while working at the Ames Research Center. He was also a research scientist at NASA. They grew close and married in 1990.

NASA accepted new applications for astronaut training in 1990. Ellen decided to apply again, along with 2,000 other hopefuls. This time, she was selected to start the training program to go into space. Ellen and Coe moved to Houston, Texas, for her to attend astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center.

Ellen had already studied physics and engineering for many years, but to become an astronaut she had to learn about other scientific fields, such as astronomy. Astronauts also need to be in excellent physical shape and acquire survival skills in case of an emergency.

On July 11, 1991, Ellen officially became an astronaut after she passed all sections of the training program. She still had to wait until she was selected to go into space. In the meantime, she continued her optics research for NASA.

NASA chose Ellen to join her first space mission on April 8, 1993. She was the first Latina to go into space. She and her four fellow crew members spent nine days on their mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery. The team researched the effects of the sun on the environment of Earth. As a mission specialist, Ellen had a specific job. She had to launch a satellite into space and then return it to the shuttle two days later. 

After her first successful mission in space, Ellen continued to work for NASA on optics and software development. She went on a second mission into space in November 1994, spending eight days studying damage to the ozone layer.

Ellen gave birth to her first child, Wilson, in 1998. A year later, she took her third trip into space. This time, her mission was to dock a spacecraft on the International Space Station (ISS). She delivered supplies for the astronauts who were stationed at the ISS for an extended period of time. 

After giving birth to another son, Ellen went to space once more in 2002. She continued to work for NASA, becoming the deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in 2007. Ellen was promoted to director of the center in 2013. She was the first Latinx director and the second woman to hold the position. In 2018, she left NASA to join the National Science Board, where she has served as its chair since 2020.

• chair: A person in charge of an organization.
• mission specialist: A crew member of a space shuttle who is responsible for carrying out payload operations.
• optics: The study of vision and light.
• ozone layer: The layer of Earth’s atmosphere that provides protection from harmful radiation of the sun.
• valedictorian: The student with the highest grade of a class. They usually give a speech at the graduation ceremony.