Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month - Serena Aunon-Chancellor, second Hispanic female astronaut

Serena Aunon-Chancellor, born in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the second Hispanic female astronaut, following Ellen Ochoa.  Her father arrived in the United States from Cuba in 1960.

Aunon-Chancellor launched aboard Soyuz MS-09 to the International Space Station, where she participated in Expeditions 56 and 57.

She also participated in NEEMO 20 at NASA's Aquarius underwater laboratory in July 2015.

Discovery (STS-96) launched 1999

STS-96 crew

Front row (L-R): Kent Rominger, Ellen Ochoa, Rick Husband

Back row (L-R): Daniel Barry, Julie Payette, Valeri Tokarev, , Tamara Jernigan

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-96), launched May 27, 1999, was the second mission to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Rick Husband, Daniel Barry, Ellen Ochoa, Tamara Jernigan, Julie Payette (CSA), Valeri Tokarev (Roscosmos).

Jernigan and Barry conducted a spacewalk for almost 8 hours.  The crew returned to Earth on June 7.

Atlantis (STS-110) launched 2002

STS-110 crew

Front row (L-R): Stephen Frick, Ellen Ochoa, Michael Bloomfield

Back row (L-R): Steven Smith, Rex Walheim, Jerry Ross, Lee Morin

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-110), launched April 8, 2002, carried the S0 Truss segment, which formed the backbone of the truss structure of the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Michael Bloomfield, Pilot Stephen Frick, Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross, and Steven Smith.

Four EVAs were conducted by Smith, Walheim, Ross, and Morin to install the truss segment.

The crew returned to Earth April 19.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Ellen Ochoa!

Ellen Ochoa, born May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, is a veteran of four space shuttle missions and is the first Hispanic woman in space.

Her first mission, making history, was aboard Discovery (STS-56) as mission specialist in April 1993.

Her second flight was also as mission specialist on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.

Her third mission was back on Discovery (STS-96) as mission specialist in May-June 1999. It was the first space shuttle mission to dock with the International Space Station.

Her fourth and final mission was on Atlantis (STS-110) in April 2002.

After her retirement as astronaut, she became the first Hispanic and second woman to become director of NASA's Johnson Space Center.  She is also a concert flautist and has performed with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra at Stanford University.  She even played the flute during one of her space shuttle missions!

Discovery (STS-56) launched 1993

STS-56 crew: Seated (L-R):  Stephen Oswald, Kenneth Cameron; 

Standing (L-R): Kenneth Cockrell, Michael Foale, Ellen Ochoa

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-56), launched April 8, 1993, was the first flight with a Latina astronaut.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kenneth Cameron, Pilot Stephen Oswald, Michael Foale, Kenneth Cockrell and Ellen Ochoa.

During the flight, the crew made a brief radio contact with the Russian space station Mir.  They returned to Earth April 17.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Kenneth Cameron!

Kenneth Donald Cameron, born November 29, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio, is a veteran of three Space Shuttle flights.  He became an astronaut in June 1985 and flew his first mission on Atlantis (STS-37) in April 1991 as pilot.

His second mission was on Discovery (STS-56) as commander in April 1993.  It was the first flight of Ellen Ochoa, first Latina in space.

His third and final mission was back on Atlantis (STS-74) as commander in November 1995.  It was the fourth mission of the Shuttle-Mir program and the second docking of the Space Shuttle with Mir.

Atlantis (STS-66) launched 1994, first flight for Jean-Francois "Billy Bob" Clervoy

(L-R): Jean-Francois Clervoy, Scott Parazynski, Curtis Brown, Jr., Joseph Tanner, Donald McMonagle, Ellen Ochoa

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-66) blasted off November 3, 1994 from Kennedy Space Center.  It was the first flight for astronauts Joseph Tanner, Scott Parazynski, and Jean-Francois Clervoy, astronaut from the National Centre for Space Studies, the French space agency.  It was also the second flight for the first Latina in space, Ellen Ochoa. 

Clervoy's fellow astronauts nicknamed him "Billy Bob" since they had trouble pronouncing his name.

The crew took advantage of the timing to study the hole in ozone over the Antarctic.  For the next 14 years, Atlantis' flights were dedicated to Mir or the International Space Station until the repair mission to the Hubble Telescope  in 2009.

Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base November 14.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month - Dr. Ellen Ochoa, first Hispanic Woman in space!

Dr. Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman in space, a veteran of four space shuttle mission and currently Director of Johnson Space Center, the first Hispanic woman and second woman to be director.

She made history on her first space shuttle mission (STS-56) on Discovery in April 1993, when she was a mission specialist.  Her second flight was on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.   Her third trip into space was on Discovery again (STS-96) in May-June 1999.  Her final voyage (STS-110) was on Atlantis in April 2002.

She is in the 2017 class to be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.  And she's a classical flautist!