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Astronaut José Hernández Boards Discovery

Astronaut José Hernández, a Hispanic man, smiles broadly at the camera while waiting to board space shuttle Discovery. He wears an orange escape suit that has an American flag patch on the left shoulder. Behind him are mission specialists Patrick Forrester (left) and Christer Fuglesang (back to camera).
NASA/Jim Grossmann

In this photo from Aug. 7, 2009, Jose Hernandez, mission specialist, smiles at the camera as he waits for his turn to enter the space shuttle Discovery as part of STS-128. It was the 128th Shuttle mission and the 30th mission to the International Space Station. While at the orbital lab, the STS-128 crew conducted three spacewalks.

Hernandez joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2001. There, he was a materials research engineer in the Materials & Processes branch; eventually, he became branch chief. In 2004, he was selected as an astronaut candidate, and in 2009, he became a crew member of STS-128.

Get to know some of our Hispanic colleagues, past and present, during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Image credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann