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!
