What would you bring on a mission into space? Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina woman to visit space, brought her flute along when she boarded space shuttle Discovery in 1993, allowing her to merge her lifelong love of music and science while achieving her dream of becoming an astronaut. She and her fellow crew members researched the Earth’s ozone layer, and as mission specialist, Ellen was tasked with the crucial job of launching and retrieving a satellite. It was the ultimate test of the systems Ellen had spent years developing, and she passed it perfectly. Including her first mission, Ellen visited space four times and continued to research and advance human spaceflight. Today, she serves as the chair of the National Science Board.
