The first U.S. astronaut of Mexican descent.
ABC reports that Jose Hernandez, a California farmer who served as the first Mexican-American astronaut for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has made a name for himself in history. The latest mission to Mars has rekindled his passion for space.
As a child, Hernandez followed his Parents north from Mexico to California for several months each year to work in labor-intensive farming jobs. He was still learning English and excelling in math and science when he was 10 years old, when he realized he wanted to be an astronaut.
Hernandez said he told his father about his inner dream after seeing the Apollo mission on television in 1972, and received encouragement from him, saying bluntly, “My father was the driving force behind my dream.”
It took Hernandez 12 years to apply for a job at NASA, during which he was rejected 11 times.
He was finally selected from a pool of 12,000 candidates in 2004, ran a space mission two years later, and in 2009 served as a space shuttle aerospace engineer, running a 14-day mission to the International Space Station, which ended with weather altering their flight path and forcing them to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California, less than 130 miles from where he worked in farming as a child.
Hernandez revealed that while people don’t openly question his background, he is still aware of their skepticism and occasionally asks himself, “Do I really belong here?”
Hernandez left NASA in 2011 and now works in the consulting business and is the father of five children.
He admits he still misses space missions: “I look forward to the day when the phone rings and the person on the other end says, ‘Hey you know, we have an opportunity for you.’ I’ll say, ‘Please get me back on the team, I want in’.”
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