José M. Hernández

Runs an aerospace consulting firm providing STEAM educational exhibits, aerospace/advanced-technology and renewable-energy consulting, week-long industry-expert seminars, and speaking engagements.

Son of Mexican migrant farmworkers, he worked in the fields as a child before becoming a NASA engineer and, in 2009, a Space Shuttle astronaut on STS-128. After his NASA career he founded Tierra Luna Engineering to combine aerospace consulting with STEM outreach — this record covers his current business-owner role, distinct from his Pioneer profile covering his astronaut career.

B.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of the Pacific; M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara

He went from picking crops as a migrant farmworker's child to being a NASA astronaut to now running his own aerospace company — proof the path from 'no aviation background at all' to owning an aerospace business is real, not just a slogan.

Ex astronauta de la NASA (STS-128) e hijo de trabajadores agrícolas migrantes mexicanos que hoy dirige Tierra Luna Engineering, una empresa de consultoría aeroespacial y divulgación STEM.

• Tierra Luna Engineering — About — Tierra Luna Engineering, LLC