On April 8 1993, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On board was astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who became the first Hispanic woman in space.

Ochoa began her career at NASA in 1988 after receiving a doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Two years later, she was selected as an astronaut. On her first mission, Ochoa served as a Mission Specialist on a 9-day space flight. The mission of this flight was to study the ozone layer.

In the years following, she went on to fly three more space shuttle missions. Over the course of her four flights, Ochoa managed a total time of 40 days, 19 hours, and 35 minutes in space.