NASA engineer Jose Hernandez wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. “I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps,” says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time.

“I was already interested in science and engineering,” Jose Hernandez remembers, “but that was the moment I said, ‘I want to fly in space.’ And that’s something I’ve been striving for each day since then.” And now that hard work has paid off.

Jose Hernandez was selected to begin training as a mission specialist as part of the 2004 astronaut candidate class.

“Some kids might think it would be fun to travel like that,” Hernandez laughs, “but we had to work. It wasn’t a vacation.”

Jose Hernandez | NASA Latino Astronaut

This system has proven useful for detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. Hernandez has won recognition awards for his work on this project. He has also worked in the international arena where he represented Lawrence Livermore and the U.S. Department of Energy on Russian nuclear non-proliferation issues.

During the astronaut application process, Hernandez had to meet with a review board. That’s where he came face-to-face with his original inspiration: Franklin Chang-Diaz.

“It was a strange place to find myself, being evaluated by the person who gave me the motivation to get there in the first place,” Hernandez says. “But I found that we actually had common experiences — a similar upbringing, the same language issues. That built up my confidence. Any barriers that existed, he had already hurdled them.”

Hernandez smiles. “Now it’s my turn!”

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