On Oct. 9, the University of Central Missouri’s Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity invited astronaut Jose Hernández to speak about his life experiences, from his beginnings as a child migrant worker to becoming a NASA astronaut. Attendees gathered at Nahm Auditorium to listen to Hernández’s story and afterward participated in a Q&A session.
“I think it’s important that students have the opportunity to hear from experts from across different academic disciplines. I also think it’s important that when we put those experts in front of students, that we are making sure to put a diversity of backgrounds in front of students,” Dr. Shari Bax, Vice President for Student Experience and Engagement, said.
Senior Sydney Smith gave her thoughts on why the event was so important.
“[Hernández’s story] shows resilience, especially if you’re a first-generation student. You don’t have to come from a big family to be able to do big things,” Smith said.
His experiences growing up as the child of migrant workers and the importance his father placed on education provided the foundation for his future endeavors.
“I think coming from a migrant farm working family helped me, in the sense of, I developed a very strong work ethic as a result,” Hernández said. “I always found that whatever job I got after working as a farm worker was never as hard. [My father] gave me a roadmap of how to reach my dream.”
After overcoming both a language barrier and the harsh environment of working in farm fields, Hernández was determined to continue his education. He eventually graduated from the University of California with a Master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. Drawing on his inspiration of seeing Gene Cernan walk on the moon at ten years old, Hernández further pursued his dream of becoming an astronaut.
“I think he [Gene Cernan] helped me conceive the dream. When I saw it happening for real, and a man walking on the moon, I said ‘yeah, this is real. this could happen.’ That’s when I said I want to be an astronaut,” Hernández said.
After working at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and contributing to the development of mammographic technology, Hernández achieved his dreams. After multiple applications and 12 rejections from NASA, he was accepted into the astronaut program in 2004.
“It felt very good once I got certified, because now I knew I could be assigned a mission,” Hernández said.
He trained for years and, in 2009, flew as a mission specialist on the STS-128 Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. On this 14-day mission, Hernández and his crew delivered critical supplies. The trip into space was pivotal in how it shaped his environmentalist views.
“Once you’re up there, it’s just looking at the Earth and seeing how fragile it is, the atmosphere, how thin it is, and thinking that’s the only thing that’s keeping us alive. That, you know, converted me to an instant environmentalist,” Hernández said.
Following his retirement from NASA in 2011, Hernández went on to run for congress and founded the José M. Hernández Reaching for the Stars Foundation. In 2023, a feature film starring Michael Peña was released about his life, titled “A Million Miles Away.” With all his later efforts, there has been a consistent focus for Hernández on reaching young people, especially those of migrant worker backgrounds.
Hernández said,“[Reaching young people] means a lot to me, because I like to think that I’m creating an empowering effect in them seeing me and saying, if he did it, I can do it.”
