Ochoa, Ellen (1958– )

US astronaut Ellen Ochoa floats through the tube connecting the space shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. Shuttle mission STS-96 took supplies and equipment to the space station, some of which can be seen in the background.

US astronaut. Her four space shuttle flights include the Discovery mission in May 1999 for the first docking with the International Space Station (ISS), and the April 2002 Atlantis flight to the ISS, where she operated the robotic arm. She has logged more than 978 hours in space. She went on to become the deputy director of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. Ochoa was chief of the Intelligent Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Ames Research Center when selected as an astronaut in 1991.