Ellen Ochoa
By Nikki Haddix
Events before her Birth
Seven months before Ellen's birth, the Soviet Union successfully launched a basketball sized spunkit into orbit around earth.
Her birth and childhood
Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10,1958. She was the third of five children. Her parents both migrated to California from Sonora, Mexico. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California when she was one year old. Her dad left her family when she was in junior high, and her mom struggled to raise 5 kids on her own.
Education
Ellen graduated from San Diego State University with top honors. Stanford offered her scholarships several times, and she turned it down eventually, she accepted when they offered financial aid. In college she focused on electrical engineering. She also studied holograms and 3 dimensional images.
Time as an astronaut
In 1990, she began her training as an astronaut. In 1993, she became the first female Latina astronaut. By 2002, she had gone on three more missions.
Quotes
"I never got tired of watching Earth, day or night, as we passed over it."
"I don't think I ever had a woman science or engineering professer my entire ten years of college."
Sources
biography.yourdictionary.com
Wukovits, John E., et al. Ellen Ochoa-First Female Hispanic Astronaut. 2007. Print.
"Ellen Ochoa Biography." biography.com. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. <www.biography.com/people/ellen-ochoa-10413023>.
"Ochoa,Ellen." highbeam.com. 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://www.highbeam.com>.