Ellen Ochoa

What everyone in the astronaut corps shares in common is not gender or ethnic background, but motivation, perseverance, and desire - the desire to participate in a voyage of discovery. ”

A hallmark of the Latino community is to help one another, if students are interested in a way to give back and help their communities, becoming a teacher is probably one of the very best ways of doing that. ”

Well, with so many space shuttle missions that we've done, I think it's just sort of natural that each one hasn't necessarily gotten the attention that the early ones did. ”

I tell students that the opportunities I had were a result of having a good educational background. Education is what allows you to stand out. ”

We are involved in technology development for, you know, missions that we hope to plan that would take us to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. ”

I hope to continue to inspire our nation's youth to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math so they, too, may reach for the stars. ”

We continue to not only operate the International Space Station but to increase its capabilities as well as commercial contributions. ”

It's fun to work the robotic arm in part because it's really a team effort. ”

I'm honored to be recognized among generations of astronauts who were at the forefront of exploring our universe for the benefit of humankind. ”