Former NASA astronaut José Hernández visited Chico State Wednesday evening. Music played over the speakers as students, faculty and community members took their seats. The sold-out event filled all 1,200 seats in Laxson Auditorium.

Hernández came out in his bright blue flight suit. The audience erupted in applause as he took the stage and began to tell the story of his life from Mexican migrant farm worker to NASA astronaut and engineer.

Hernández was born in French Camp in San Joaquin County. He was the youngest of four siblings and the only one in his family to be born in the United States.

Hernández grew up in Stockton, traveling back to Mexico for three months at a time every year. 

Although he and his siblings were constantly moving back and forth, Hernández said his parents still strongly valued education, only having received a third grade education themselves, and encouraged their children to study for hours every day. 

In second grade, before Hernández left for his family’s annual three month trip to Mexico, he asked his teacher, Ms.Young, for three months worth of homework to complete. He said Ms. Young requested to speak with his family. 

His father worked in agriculture. When Ms. Young arrived, she asked him what would happen if he planted a tree but moved it every three months. 

Hernández said his father simply responded that its growth would be stunted. Only then did he realize how damaging moving back and forth was for his children’s education. 

From then on, Hernández and his family only went back to Mexico for three weeks every year during the holidays.

Hernández described how when he was 10, he saw the Apollo 17 mission in which Eugene Cernan walked on the moon. In 1972, it was the last lunar landing mission. This was what initially inspired him to become an astronaut. 

“I was hooked,” Hernández said. 

He said he thought to himself, “I wanna be that guy. I wanna be an astronaut.”

After graduating from high school, Hernández 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.

Hernández’s first job was at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he worked as an engineer. There, he co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system which was able to detect cancer at earlier stages. 

While still working at the laboratory, he submitted his first application to work at NASA and was rejected. He continued to apply six more times. On his sixth rejection, Hernández said he crumpled up his letter and attempted to throw it in the trash. 

“If I had made it, I would not be here today,” Hernández said. 

His wife found the crumpled letter on the floor. She asked him why he was quitting and what the accepted applicants had that he didn’t. 

Hernández went on to apply six more times before finally being accepted to the program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 2004. He underwent extensive flight, water and wilderness survival training. He was selected to be a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-128. 

“It was a great, great mission,” Hernández said, also explaining that 14 days in space only felt like one. 

He and seven other astronauts traveled to space on Aug. 28, 2009 to deliver several tons of equipment to the international space station. The mission was completed in 217 orbits of Earth, more than 5.7 million miles in 332 hours.  

Hernández shared videos with the audience of him and his crew members in zero gravity delivering the tons of supplies and as he said, “goofing off.” 

After receiving a select few invitations to watch his departure, Hernández invited none other than Ms. Young to watch him become the first NASA astronaut from a Mexican migrant family. 

After Hernández’s talk, he held a Q&A and book signing of his book “Reaching For the Stars: The Inspiring True Story of Migrant Farm Worker Turned Astronaut” and his most recent children’s book, “The Boy Who Touched the Stars.” 

Hernández has since left NASA and now works as the CEO and founder of Tierra Luna Engineering, LLC, an aerospace consulting firm. He now has five children, four of whom have received degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors. 

“The moral of the story,” Hernández said. “Invest in yourself.” 

Beatrice Williams can be reached at [email protected].