In this photo from Aug. 7, 2009, Jose Hernandez, mission specialist, smiles at the camera as he waits for his turn to enter the space shuttle Discovery as part of STS-128. It was the 128^th Shuttle mission and the 30^th mission to the International Space Station. While at the orbital lab, the STS-128 crew conducted three spacewalks.

Hernandez joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2001. There, he was a materials research engineer in the Materials & Processes branch; eventually, he became branch chief. In 2004, he was selected as an astronaut candidate, and in 2009, he became a crew member of STS-128.

Get to know some of our Hispanic colleagues, past and present, during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Image credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann