José Moreno Hernández, widely known as Jose Hernández, was a Mexican-American engineer and astronaut who made major contributions to engineering and space exploration.
Hernández overcame many obstacles to pursue his dream and eventually became an astronaut and served on the STS-128 crew of the Space Shuttle.
File
- Full name: José Moreno Hernandez
- Stage name: Jose Hernandez
- Date of birth: August 7, 1962
- Age: 62 years old
- Place of birth: California, USA.
- Nationality: American
- Occupation: Engineer and astronaut
- Height: 1.93m
- Parents: Salvador Hernandez and Julia Hernandez
- Siblings: unknown
- Spouse: Adela Hernandez
- Children: Julio Hernández, Karina Hernández, Vanessa Hernández, Marisol Hernández and Antonio Hernández.
- Relationship: Married
- Net Worth: $1 million to $5 million
Early life and education
José Hernández was born on August 7, 1962 in French Camp, California, United States. He was raised by his parents, Salvador Hernández and Julia Hernández. It is unknown whether he has any siblings, as their details are not available to the media.
Hernández attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, earning a degree in electrical engineering. He was awarded a full scholarship to graduate school at the University of California. Hernández’s ethnicity is Anglo-Mexican and his religion is Christian.
Career
Hernández worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1990 to 2001, where he co-developed the first field-wide digital mammography system to aid in early breast cancer detection.
In 2001, he joined the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. After being rejected 11 times for astronaut training, he was selected as an astronaut in May 2004. He completed astronaut candidate training in 2006 and was assigned to the Space Shuttle Branch at Kennedy Space Center.
In May 2007, Hernández served as an underwater astronaut on the NEEMO 12 underwater mission. He was then selected as a mission specialist for the Space Shuttle mission STS-128, which launched in August 2009. During this mission, he became the first person to use Spanish while tweeting from space.
The STS-128 mission landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California in September 2009 after a 13-day journey. In 2023, a film titled “A Million Miles Away” starring Michael Peña was released, based on Hernández’s 2012 autobiography “Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut.”
Awards and nominations
- NASA Service Award
- Engineering Award
- Upward Bound Achiever National Trio Award
- U.S. Department of Energy Outstanding Performance Award
- Mexican American Society of Engineers and Scientists (MAES) Gold Medal
- National Achievement Award for Hispanic Engineers for Outstanding Engineering Contributions
- Graduate Minority Engineering Fellow (GEM)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the University of California, Santa Barbara
- Distinguished Alumni of the University of California, Santa Barbara: Awarded in 2015 for his distinguished career.
Social media
- Instagram handle: @astrojosehernandez
- Facebook Name: Jose Hernandez
- Twitter Username: @Astro_Jose
Personal life
José M. Hernández is happily married to Adela Hernández. The couple has been married for many years and has five children: Julio Hernández, Karina Hernández, Vanessa Hernández, Marisol Hernández and Antonio Hernández.
Adela played a vital role in José’s journey to becoming an astronaut. The couple’s long-term marriage and Adela’s unwavering support certainly contributed to José’s impressive achievements.
Net worth
José M. Hernández is a talented engineer and astronaut who has amassed an estimated net worth of $1 to $5 million over the course of his successful career.
Hernández’s impressive accomplishments, including working as an engineer for various organizations and participating in space shuttle missions as an astronaut, have contributed to his considerable financial standing.
