NASA's first Mexican farmer astronaut: Who is Jose Hernandez?

Jose, who came to California as an immigrant with his family, spends his days working on farms. For this reason, he can continue his school life in pieces. The images of the Apollo 11 spacecraft going to the Moon that he saw on television made him dream of dreams other than field crops. The primary school teacher, who noticed the talent in Jose, was the first person to support him. Combining his father's ideas about his life struggle with his dreams, Jose begins to take steps on this path. He first completes his engineering education and then starts working as the only Mexican in Livermore Laboratories, a defense industry organization. Being an immigrant and Mexican brings with it discrimination. Despite this, he begins to rise there with his determination. In the meantime, he started to apply for astronaut programs that NASA (American Space and Aviation Administration) would train from civil society.

José Moreno Hernández (born August 7, 1962) is a Mexican-American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He currently serves as a Regent of the University of California. Hernández was assigned to the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-128. He also served as chief of the Materials and Processes branch of Johnson Space Center. Hernández previously developed equipment for full-field digital mammography at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

While the children from his marriage to Adele, whom he met during his university years, came one after the other, he continues to insistently apply to NASA. In the meantime, it follows the outstanding merits of those accepted into the program and tries to eliminate their shortcomings. There are many different initiatives within these skills, from being a pilot to learning Russian and taking diving training. When his eleventh application is not accepted, he decides to go to NASA and meet in person, but he is now older and a tired wife and five children are waiting at home.

Jose's answer to why he can be a good astronaut carries traces of his past; “Who better to be an astronaut than an immigrant? We are the ones who know what it is like to enter an unknown environment. Who better to dare to leave this planet?”

The motivating words and actions of Kalpana Chawla, who lost her life in the Columbia shuttle disaster in 2003, also increased Hernandez's courage.

NASA rejected him 11 times...

Hernández, an engineer, was aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009, the first shuttle mission to send two Latino astronauts into space. Hernández's story made headlines from the moment NASA selected him for the astronaut class in 2004.

Hernández grew up in a family of immigrant workers who moved back and forth between California and Mexico for years. His family was originally from the Mexican state of Michoacán. Hernández was born in California.

Hernández says his dream of becoming an astronaut began after watching the Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972. He did his best to achieve this goal and further his education. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering and worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 15 years.

Describing how important his wife, Adela, was in his journey, Hernández said in an interview, “In the sixth year that NASA rejected me, I crumpled up the rejection letter and threw it on the bedroom floor. "I was going to stop trying, but he talked me out of it," he said. The determination of the husband and wife bore fruit when Hernández became an astronaut despite the difficulties.

"I was 41 when I became an astronaut. The average age of new astronauts is 34," Hernández says.