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Ellen Ochoa, astronaut and engineer

 


                                       

              Ellen Ochoa not only made an amazing accomplishment in science and technology, but she also achieved something amazing for her culture. In 1993, at the age of 35, Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina woman to travel to space. Her journey was held on a 9-day trip  aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her accomplishments do not end there as she was also promoted to director of the center when the previous director retired in 2012. This made her the first Latina in Director of Johnson Space Center and the second female director. The biggest inspiration to Ellen in becoming an astronaut was growing up with a father who taught high school physics. Her fathers career along with her inherited talent for science and technology is what ultimately motivated her career as a Latina woman in STEM. Under-representation shaped her experiences because her father who taught physics came from immigrant parents who had very little. In order to combat racial bias in technology today, it is important for children to learn about people like Ellen Ochoa to show them that race and gender have nothing to do with ability.                  

                                

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