Monday, September 15, 2025

Celebrating - José M. Hernández

As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I would like to celebrate José M. Hernández, who is a Mexican-American Engineer and astronaut.  The other day, while scrolling on my social media, I came across a film clip from the movie A Million Miles Away, which was a film based on his 2012 Autobiography “Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut.” This clip prompted me to research José further.

It is incredible that he began as a migrant farm worker alongside his parents as a young child and worked his way up to become a mission specialist on STS-128, which was launched in August 2009. 

He also developed the first full-field digital Mammography imaging system with a commercial colleague while working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

He has earned many awards and honors, which can be found at the Wikipedia link below.

1. José M. Hernández - Wikipedia