Jose Hernández (astronaut)

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José Hernández
NASA Astronaut
Status	Active
Born	August 7, 1962 (1962-08-07) (age 47) French Camp, California
Other occupation	Engineer
Time in space	13d 20h 54m [1]
Selection	2004 NASA Group
Missions	STS-128
Mission insignia

José Moreno Hernández (born on August 7, 1962, in French Camp, California) is an American engineer of Mexican descent and a NASA astronaut. He calls Stockton, California, his hometown. His family is from La Piedad, Michoacán, with indigenous Purépecha roots.^[2][3] In an August 25, 2009 conversation with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico, Hernández stated that as a child, he lived half the year in La Piedad and half in the United States.^[3] 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.^[4] He is currently assigned to the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-128. Hernandez also served as chief of the Materials and Processes branch of Johnson Space Center. He previously developed equipment for full-field digital mammography at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Contents 1 Education 2 Awards and honors 3 Engineering career 4 NASA career 5 Personal life 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Education

B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of the Pacific, 1984. M.S., Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of California-Santa Barbara, 1986.

[edit] Awards and honors

NASA Service Awards (2002, 2003), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory “Outstanding Engineer Award” (2001), Upward Bound National TRIO Achiever Award (2001), U.S. Department of Energy “Outstanding Performance Commendation” (2000), Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) “Medalla de Oro” recipient for professional and community contributions (1999), Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award, “Outstanding Technical Contribution” (1995), Graduate Engineering Minority Fellow (GEM) (1985), Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society member and awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from University of California-Santa Barbara.

[edit] Engineering career

This section requires expansion.

Hernández worked from 1987 to 2001 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] NASA career

In 2001, Hernández joined the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas.amen

Selected by NASA in May 2004. In February 2006 he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. On completing this initial training, Hernández was assigned to the Shuttle Branch to support Kennedy Space Center Operations in support of Shuttle launch and landing preparations. He worked various technical assignments until his selection on July 15, 2008, as a mission specialist of the STS-128 mission, which launched on August 28, 2009. While in orbit, Hernandez became the first person to use the Spanish language in space on Twitter.^[5][6]

STS-128 mission ended its 14 days journey on September 11, 2009 at Edwards Air Force Base, California at 5:53 pm PST.

[edit] Personal life

Hernandez is married and has five children, ages 6 to 14. His wife, Adela, runs a Mexican restaurant just outside the Johnson Space Center gates, called Tierra Luna Grill, Spanish for Earth Moon Grill.^[6][7]

In September 2009, Hernandez began speaking out to support a legalization path for immigrants: "Having 12 million undocumented people here means there's something wrong with the system, and the system needs to be fixed."^[8] Hernandez called this his personal opinion, and not a representation of NASA policy.

[edit] References

Bold text

[edit] External links

• Jose Hernández on Twitter
• Jose Hernández personal website
• NASA biography of Hernández
• Spacefacts biography of José Hernández

v • d • e NASA Astronaut Group 19, "The Peacocks", 2004 Pilots Randolph Bresnik  · James Dutton Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy · Jose Hernández · Robert S. Kimbrough · Thomas Marshburn · Robert Satcher · Shannon Walker Educator Mission Specialists Joseph M. Acaba · Richard R. Arnold · Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger v • d • e NASA Astronaut Groups NASA Astronaut Group 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · List of astronauts by selection