NASA’s
New Astronauts Reach a Milestone
Proving that the United States of America is still the greatest country
in the world, its astronauts of the latest space program include two Americans
of Mexican descent: Jose Hernandez of Houston, Texas and Danny Olivas of El
Paso, Texas. They will be spending
thirteen days in space aboard a space shuttle and will help their crewmates as
they make spacewalks.
For Hernandez, who is educated as an engineer, the adventure is the
culmination of his American dream and a colossal step up from the life of a
migrant worker. The son of Mexican
immigrants, they taught him the value of hard work and encouraged his education.
He has a background of related work in X-ray physics and also helped the
Department of Energy with the disposal of Russian nuclear materials.
Married with five children ages 6-14, he and his wife also own a
restaurant in Houston, Tierra Luna Grill.
Danny Olivas is originally from North Hollywood, California where he was
born in 1966. Married with five
children, he is something of a fitness buff and holds a Doctorate in Mechanical
Engineering and Material Science from Rice University.
After receiving his degree, he worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratories in
research. Throughout his career, he
has authored and presented numerous papers at technical conferences and in
scientific journals.
Both of the Hispanic astronauts seem to embody the GI Forum credo on
Education Being Our Freedom by being positive role models, in fact, Jose
Hernandez has formed a ‘Reaching for the Stars’ foundation based in
Stockton, California. Takeoff for
the space shuttle is Tuesday August 25, 2009. Eddie Morin