Los Angeles, Alta California
September 2, 2009
First NASA space mission with "two" astronauts of Mexican descent
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's space shuttle mission that launched from the Kennedy Space Center on August 28 includes two astronauts of Mexican descent. The astronauts are Juan Daniel Olivas and Jose Moreno Hernandez. This is the first time that two Mexicans are in space together. The "First Mexican in Space" was Rodolfo Neri Vela who flew aboard a NASA Space Shuttle mission in 1985.
Astronaut Juan Daniel Olivas was born in Alta California in 1965 but was raised
in the border city of El Paso. where he received a Bachelor of Science degree
in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1989.
Olivas also received a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from
the University of Houston in 1993 and a doctorate in mechanical engineering
and materials science from Rice University in 1996.
Astronaut Jose
Moreno Hernandez was born in Alta California in 1962 and is from
Stockton. His family is originally from La Piedad, Michoacán. In an August 25, 2009
conversation with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico, Hernández stated he lived half
of his life in La Piedad and half in the United States. As a child, Hernández worked
alongside his family throughout the fields of California, harvesting crops and moving
from one town to another. He attended many schools and didn't learn to speak English
until he was 12. Hernandez received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering
from the University of the Pacific in 1984 and a Master of Science degree in electrical
and computer engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1986.
The honor of being
the "First Mexican in Space" goes to Rodolfo Neri Vela from
Zumpango del Río, Guerrero, Mexico. Vela is a professor at the Department of Electrical
Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Vela received a
Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical and electronic engineering from the UNAM in
1975, and a Master of Science degree in 1976 from the University of Essex, England.
Vela then received a doctorate degree in electromagnetic radiation from the University of
Birmingham in 1979. Astronaut Rodolfo Neri Vela was aboard the STS-61-B Atlantis mission,
from November 26 to December 3, 1985. The mission launched at night from Kennedy Space
Center and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Astronaut Jose Moreno Hernandez is presently "twittering" from space both in Spanish and in English. His last twit was "Vesti a Danny y Nicole en sus trajes espaciales y ahora estan haciendo sus caminatas" which translates, "I dressed Danny and Nicole in their space suits and right now they are doing their space walks." NASA calls Astronaut Juan Daniel Olivas "Danny" but his family and close friends call him "Juanito." Astronauts Hernandez' twitter is at http://twitter.com/astro_jose
Related La Voz de Aztlan Report:
NASA names region on Saturn's moon "Aztlan"
