When the space shuttle Discovery launches this week, a Mexican American will be flying aboard as a mission specialist and he was never in the military or flew an airplane. Jose Hernandez, born in French Camp, California, did not even learn to speak English until he was 12 years old. His parents were migrant farmers who regularly traveled from Mexico to California each season to work on farms during harvests. They migrated as far north as Stockton picking sugar beets, strawberries, and cucumbers until the end of November when they would return to Mexico for Christmas. They started the whole cycle again each spring.
Jose spent much of his childhood working with his family on the farms, but his parents would send him and his brother to school when they could. Finally, some of Jose's teachers convinced the family to settle down in Stockton where the brothers could receive their education year around. They would still work with the family on weekends after attending school each week.
While a senior in high school, Jose was working on harvest when he heard about the first Latino to become an NASA astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz who was orginally from Costa Rica before becoming an American citizen. Jose was inspired by Chang-Diaz and decided to pursue his own dream of becoming an astronaut.
After graduating from high school in Stockton, Jose completed a degree in electrical engineering at the University of the Pacific. Then, he won a full scholarship to the University of California in Santa Barbara to complete his master's degree in electrical engineering in 1986. He got a job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory the following year.
While at Lawrence Livermore, Jose Hernandez worked on applications utilizing x-rays, laser, and radar. He helped developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system which improved the ability of doctors to detect breast cancer in the earlier stages of the disease. He eventually became program manager responsible for analyzing enriched uranium samples being purchased by the U.S. from Russia to determine if the samples came from nuclear warheads.
Beginning in 1992, Jose Hernandez began applying to NASA's astronaut program. He was turned down. He continued to apply each year and each year NASA turned him down. In 2001, Jose applied for an engineering position at NASA's Johnson Space Center and was accepted. He was responsible for structural analysis of materials being used in airplane and propulsion sytem constrution. Finally, in 2004, 12 years after he began applying, NASA finally accepted him into the astronaut corp. But not before Jose Hernandez had to go before the review board for an interview upon which his life inspiration, Franklin Chang-Diaz, sat.
Jose Hernandez received his full accreditation as NASA astronaut in 2006. The STS-128 mission on Discovery will be his first mission into space. His story is inspiring and a testament to the need to provide education and opportunities to all immigrants, legal or undocumented.