Ellen Ochoa Credit: invent.org

Ochoa was born in 1958 in Los Angeles, California. She liked music as well as math and science. She graduated from San Diego State University in 1980 with a B.S. in Physics, Her mother made the importance of education to her daughter. Ochoa then entered graduate school at Stanford University.

In 1983, when Ochoa was earning her M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1985) in Electrical Engineering, Sally Ride became the first female U.S. astronaut. This gave Ochoa the encouragement to aim high. With her doctorate, she applied to NASA to become an astronaut herself.

At Stanford, Ochoa had designed optical systems that analyze objects they look at. After graduating, she continued this work at Saudia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ochoa as co-inventor won patents for three optical devices: a system that inspects objects; a system that identifies, and can recognize, objects; and a system that minimizes distortion in the images taken of an object. Later, working at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, Ochoa branched off into developing computer systems designed for aeronautical expeditions.

Ochoa's knowledge in optics and computer hardware got the notice of NASA. The systems developed by Ochoa had the potential to improve not only the gathering of data but also the assessing of the integrity and safety of equipment. In 1990, NASA accepted her into its astronaut-training program.

Ochoa flew as a Mission Specialist on a Discovery Space Shuttle Mission (STS-56, April 1993). The next year, she was Payload Commander on a follow-up Shuttle Mission (STS-66, November 1994). On the Shuttle expeditions, Ochoa conducted studies of the Sun's effect on the Earth's atmosphere and climate, deploying satellites like ATLAS-2 and -3. Ochoa has participated in an international study of damage to the Earth's ozone layer.