Ellen Lauri Ochoa
Personal Information
Born: 1958
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Education
1980, BS Physics, San diego State University 1981, MS 1985, PhD, Electrical engineering, Stanford University
Professional Life
Field of Study: Astronautics; Optics
Institution/Corporation: NASA, Sandia National Laboratories
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2015, NASA Distinguished Service Medal;2018-2020, Vice Chair for National Science Board; Student Solo Award; 1997, Exceptional Service Medal; 1995, Outstanding Leadership Medal; space Flight Medals 2002,1999, 1994 & 1993; 2017, US Astronauts Hall of Fame; 2018, International Air & space Hall of Fame; Presidential distinguished Rank Award for Senior Executives in the Federal governement; Fellow of: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, National Academy of Inventors & Optica; 7 schools are named after her
Achievements: Ochoa was enticed by optical systems and committed to improving its applications for performing information processing. She wanted to help computers "see". NASA later recognized her methods in optics could be used in fabricating such as inspecting for flaws, or it might be used on a space vehicle such as the Rover. At the NASA Ames Research Center, she led a research group working primarily on optical systems for automated space exploration. At Sandia National Laboratories, she applied what she knew about optics to the research being done on nuclear weapons. She patented an optical system to detect defects in a repeating pattern and is a co-inventor on three patents for an optical inspection system, an optical object recognition method, and a method for noise removal in images.
1993, 1st Hispanic female to go into space; was on a 9 day mission on the Space Shuttle Discovery
Has logged over 1,000 hours in space on 4 missions
Was the 1st astronaut to play a musical instrument in space, a flute
applied to the NASA training program 3 times before she was accepted
Holds 4 patents in optics