Latinas excel in almost every industry and workspace, and reaching NASA was no different. Ellen Ochoa became the first Latina to travel into space in 1993. She studied electrical engineering at Stanford University, where she got both a bachelor's degree and a doctorate. Ochoa then became a research engineer at Sandia National Laboratories and at the Ames Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Her intellect made her stand out, and soon she was selected by NASA in 1990 to participate in its astronaut program. Ochoa had created systems and methods that prompted her to be chosen because of their uniqueness. They included optical systems for the detection of imperfections in a repeating pattern and for the recognition of objects.
In 2007, Ochoa became deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and six years later, she was promoted to director. She was the second woman to hold the post and the first Latina. Ochoa has demonstrated nothing is impossible and there are no limits for what you can achieve.
