Ellen Ochoa

Ellen Ochoa, a veteran astronaut, recently retired as the 11th director of the Johnson Space Center (JSC). She was JSC's first Hispanic director, and its second female director. During her tenure, she helped maximize use of the International Space Station (ISS), enable success of the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), develop the Orion spacecraft for future missions and build the foundation to send human missions to Mars. Ellen became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on the nine-day STS-56 mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1993. Ellen has been recognized with NASA's highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for senior executives in the federal government. She has received many other awards and is especially honored to have six schools named for her. She is currently the vice chair of the National Science Board.



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