1	Music Cecilia Noël, a rising leading lady of salsa; Irene B and Choco Orta bring their own style; Chayanne talks about life. read more...
2	Film & TV The new adventures of Yasmin and Crash; Oscar Nuñez outside The Office. read more...
3	Books Two top broadcasters share their insights. read more...
4	Ask Julie It’s time to reorganize your finances. read more...
5	Calendar Noteworthy Hispanic events around the country in May. read more...
6	Picture This The first Latina astronaut reaches for the stars. read more...

Picture This

Reaching FOR THE Stars

Who: Ellen Ochoa
What: The first Latina in space
When: Served on four NASA space missions between 1993 and 2002.

When Neil Armstrong took those first steps on the moon 40 years ago in July, Ellen Ochoa was just a girl growing up in La Mesa, California. NASA had no women astronauts in those days, and space travel was not something she even dreamed of. By the time she was in graduate school at Stanford University, however, Sally Ride had become the first female U.S. astronaut, giving Ochoa the encouragement to aim high. After earning a doctorate in electrical engineering, she applied to NASA and became the first Hispanic woman in space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1993. She later participated in three more space missions and currently serves as the deputy director of the Johnson Space Center. “Being an astronaut has given me the opportunity to speak to children all over, including children with the same background as myself,” she said in one interview. “I think that it’s important for children to have a role model to see what they can grow up to be. It’s important they know that if they work hard, they can be and accomplish whatever they want.”