Women in Science

Ellen Ochoa

Astronaut & Scientist

Shown here just prior to her first flight on the space shuttle Discovery in 1993, Dr. Ellen Ochoa (b. 1958) has been both a NASA astronaut and leader in research and development for spacecraft computer and optical system. Born in Los Angeles, Ochoa studied physics and electrical engineering at San Diego State and Stanford Universities. Her doctoral dissertation at Stanford led to a patent for a high-tech optical recognition system, and subsequent work at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, gained her two additional patents on optical systems for spacecraft automation. In 1988 she was made chife of Sandia's Intelligent Systems Technology Branch, directing the research of thirty-five engineers in aerospace computer systems. Selected by NASA for the astronaut program in 1990, she flew her first shuttle mission in 1993, conducting atmospheric and solar studies and using the Remote Manipulator System to deploy and capture the Spartan satellite. She served as Paload Commander on her second flight in 1994, again deploying and retrieving research satellites that gauged solar activity on the earth's climate.

Be sure to read about how other female, African-American and other scientists helped shape our history and make our world what it is today.