Job Info
Employer:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA - Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Employer Home Page:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/
Position Type:
Management
Job skills:
Complex problem solving
Synthesizing information
Mathematical skills
Lab or instrumentation skills
Knowledge of physics principles
Data analysis
Communication
Team work
Ellen Ochoa's Job:
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Ellen became an astronaut in July 1991. Her technical assignments in the Astronaut Office include serving as the lead spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control, Acting Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, and Director of Flight Crew Operations. A veteran of four space flights, Dr. Ochoa has logged over 978 hours in space. She was a mission specialist on STS-56 (1993), was the Payload Commander on STS-66 (1994), and was a mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-96 (1999) and STS-110 (2002). Ellen currently serves as Deputy Director, Johnson Space Center.
My Previous Jobs:
Ellen has been a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories and NASA Ames Research Center, where she investigated optical systems for performing information processing.
As Chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at Ames, she supervised 35 engineers and scientists in the research and development of computational systems for aerospace missions.
Career Facts
Employer Type:
Government Agency/Laboratory
Current Location:
Houston, TX 77058
Physics Degree:
Bachelor
Educational Information
BS - Physics, San Diego State University
MS - Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
PhD - Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
More about Ellen Ochoa
Ellen Ochoa's other interests:
Ellen's story isn't limited to her work at NASA--she is also married with two children, is a classical flutist and private pilot, and also enjoys volleyball and bicycling.
Ellen Ochoa's home page:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ochoa.html
Direct link to Ellen Ochoa's profile:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ochoa.html
Biography:
Born in 1958 in Los Angeles, California, Ellen considers La Mesa, California, to be her hometown.
As a doctoral student at Stanford, and later as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories and NASA Ames Research Center, Dr. Ochoa investigated optical systems for performing information processing. She is a co-inventor on three patents for an optical inspection system, an optical object recognition method, and a method for noise removal in images. As Chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at Ames, she supervised 35 engineers and scientists in the research and development of computational systems for aerospace missions.
Ellen's story isn't limited to her work at NASA--she is also married with two children, is a classical flutist and private pilot, and also enjoys volleyball and bicycling.
