Astronaut José Hernández will be giving a talk at Chico State on Wednesday to share his life story of going from farmworker to astronaut.

Hernández is Mexican-American and was born in San Joaquin County. He grew up working as a farmworker in a field near Stockton, frequently traveling between Mexico and California. 

He earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific and a master of science degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In 2004, Hernández was selected for astronaut training as a mission specialist at NASA. In 2009, he served as the flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-128. 

Hernández also worked as a Legislative Analyst at NASA and received seven honorary degrees and two NASA Service Awards in 2002 and 2003.

He received the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory “Outstanding Engineer Award” from the laboratory which works to enable U.S. security and global stability as well as the Upward Bound National TRIO Achiever Award in 2001. TRIO refers to the three programs, Upward Bound, Talent Search and Student Support Service. 

He is also the founder of an aerospace consulting firm, Tierra Luna Engineering which holds educational exhibits, consulting services, seminars by the aerospace industry and conferences. 

Hernández also ran for Congress in 2012 to represent the 10th Congressional District of California and in 2014 to represent the 21st Congressional District of California.

In 2023, a biographical dramatic film “A Million Miles Away” was released on Amazon Prime Video starring Micahel Peña about Hernández’s life. 

Hernández’s talk will be at 7:30 p.m. in Laxson Auditorium with tickets being $22 per adult, $17 for those 17 and under and free for Chico State students. 

Bea Williams can be reached at [email protected].