
PERSONAL
DATA:
Born May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, but considers La Mesa,
California, to be her hometown. Married to Coe Fulmer Miles of Molalla,
Oregon. They have one son. She is a classical flutist and private
pilot, and also enjoys volleyball and bicycling. Her mother, Rosanne
Ochoa, resides in La Mesa. His parents, Louis and Georgia Zak, reside
in Waldport, Oregon.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Grossmont High School, La Mesa, California, in 1975;
received a bachelor of science degree in physics from San Diego State
University in 1980, a master of science degree and doctorate in electrical
engineering from Stanford University in 1981 and 1985, respectively.
ORGANIZATIONS:
Member of the Optical Society of America (OSA), the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi
honor societies.
SPECIAL
HONORS: NASA awards include the Exceptional Service
Medal (1997), Outstanding Leadership Medal (1995), Space Flight Medals
(1999, 1994, 1993), and two Space Act Tech Brief Awards (1992). Recipient
of numerous other awards, including the Women in Aerospace Outstanding
Achievement Award, The Hispanic Engineer Albert Baez Award for Outstanding
Technical Contribution to Humanity, the Hispanic Heritage Leadership
Award, and San Diego State University Alumna of the Year. Member of
the Presidential Commission on the Celebration of Women in American
History.
EXPERIENCE:
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. Dr. Ochoa has presented numerous papers
at technical conferences and in scientific journals. Selected by NASA
in January 1990, Dr. Ochoa became an astronaut in July 1991. Her technical
assignments to date include flight software verification, crew representative
for flight software and computer hardware development, crew representative
for robotics development, testing, and training, Assistant for Space
Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, directing crew involvement
in the development and operation of the Station, and spacecraft communicator
(CAPCOM) in Mission Control. A veteran of three space flights, Dr. Ochoa
has logged over 719 hours in space. She was a mission specialist on
STS-56 in 1993, was the Payload Commander on STS-66 in 1994, and was
a mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-96 in 1999.
STS-56 ATLAS-2 Discovery (April 4-17, 1993) was a 9-day mission during
which the crew conducted atmospheric and solar studies in order to better
understand the effect of solar activity on the Earth's climate and environment.
Dr. Ochoa used the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and capture
the Spartan satellite, which studied the solar corona. Dr. Ochoa was
the Payload Commander on the STS-66 Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications
and Science-3 mission (November 3-14, 1994). ATLAS-3 continued the series
of Spacelab flights to study the energy of the Sun during an 11-year
solar cycle and to learn how changes in the sun's irradiance affect
the Earth's climate and environment. Dr. Ochoa used the RMS to retrieve
the CRISTA-SPAS atmospheric research satellite at the end of its 8-day
free flight.
STS-96 Discovery (May 27 to June 6, 1999) was a 10-day mission during
which the crew performed the first docking to the International Space
Station, and delivered 4 tons of logistics and supplies in preparation
for the arrival of the first crew to live on the station early next
year. Dr. Ochoa coordinated the transfer of supplies and also operated
the RMS during the 8-hour space walk. The mission was accomplished in
153 Earth orbits, traveling 4 million miles in 235 hours and 13 minutes.
JUNE
1999