Ellen Ochoa
Portrait of NASA Astronaut Ellen Ochoa wearing a blue flight suit, January 10, 1997. NASA on The Commons, via flickr.
Ellen Ochoa in the aft flight deck
STS056-04-008 – STS-056 – Crewmember in the aft flight deck, April 17, 1993. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center/National Archives.
Astronaut Ellen Ochoa carries her son Wilson
NASA Johnson, Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, mission specialist, carries her son Wilson Miles-Ochoa following the STS-96 crew return at Ellington Field, June 7, 1999. NASA Johnson, on flickr.
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 no