CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Exploring Her Interests CHAPTER 2 Finding Focus CHAPTER 3 Launching Her Career CHAPTER 4 Aiming High CHAPTER 5 Milestone Moments 22 29 Timeline Source Notes Glossary Further Information Index 8 w
Chapter 1 Ellen Ochoa bo0 views Earthoo from a window on the Internationalo Space Station I EXPLORING HER INTERESTS when Ellen Ochoa was young girls did not grow up to be astronauts Ellen was interested in science but she did not expect to travel to outer space as an adult dreams Yet as the world changed around Ellen so did her
2° And she surprised everyone by becoming the first female Hispanic American astronaut in 1991 She went on to log nearly one thousand hours in outer space EARLY IMPRESSIONS Ellen was born on May 10 1958 in Los Angeles California She spent her childhood near San Diego California Her father Joseph was Mexican American and ran a retail store Her mother Rosanne was a homemaker The family also included Ellen's sister and three brothers Ellen was the middle child By fifth grade Ellen thought she might like to be president of the United States one day But she had many other interests and did not stick with that goal She learned to play the flute TECH TALK I was definitely interested in space exploration when I was little and the Apollo program was going on when I was in elementary and junior high But at that time women were excluded from becoming astronauts so I never thought it was a career I could grow up and pursue Ellen Ochoa 133 si 5
