Ellen Ochoa
- STS -56 (1993)
- STS -66 ( 1994)
- STS -96 ( 1999)
- STS- 110 (2002)
Ellen Lauri Ochoa ( born May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American astronaut.
Ochoa received a bachelor's degree in 1980 in physics from San Diego State University in 1981 and a master's degree in 1985 and a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Ochoa worked for several years in research at Sandia National Laboratories and at the Ames Research Center of NASA.
Astronauts activity
Ochoa was selected in January 1990 as an astronaut candidate. At the Johnson Space Center, she worked after her training as a mission specialist in different areas.
STS -56
On April 8, 1993 aboard the space shuttle Discovery Ochoa on her first flight into space. The nine-day mission, called ATLAS -2 (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science ) explored the relationships in the interplay between the sun and Earth's atmosphere. Ochoa operated the robotic arm of the shuttle in order to suspend the SPARTAN satellite, which examined the solar corona and recapture.
STS -66
Ochoa was the Nutzlastkommandantin at its next mission on the space shuttle Atlantis. The ATLAS - 3 mission began in November 1994, continued the series of Spacelab flights to explore the solar radiation and the Earth's climate. Ochoa continued with the shuttle robotic arm from the CRISTA- SPAS satellite and caught him after eight days of free flight again.
STS -96
On 27 May 1999 Ochoa flew with the Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS). In preparation for the first crew of the ISS four tons of supplies and components were brought to the space station. On the ten day mission Ochoa coordinated the loading of goods and also operated the robot arm during the eight-hour spacewalk.
STS -110
Your next visit to the ISS completed Ochoa on April 8, 2002 with the space shuttle Atlantis. Mission task was to bring the grid element S0 to the International Space Station (ISS) and assemble. In addition, the Mobile Transporter, which is part of the Mobile Servicing System, was brought to the ISS. A total of four spacewalks were performed, in which Ochoa was operating the ISS robotic arm to move the grid element and their colleagues in space.
Manager at NASA
As of December 2002, Ellen Ochoa Deputy Head of Flight Crew Operations. In October 2006, she rose to the head of this department and was thus responsible for the team classification of shuttle flights. In October 2007, after the mission, STS -120 was Ellen Ochoa as the successor of Bob Cabana deputy director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. After the previous director, Michael Lloyd Coats, had gone into retirement in late 2012, Ochoa took over the management of the space center was the first woman.
Private
Ellen Ochoa is married and has two children.