We’re in the final week of National Hispanic Heritage Month, so we wanted to tell the story today of the first Hispanic woman in space, Ellen Ochoa.
She’s pretty versatile, even by astronaut standards.
Ochoa grew up in California, where she showed talent in both science and music.
After finishing advanced degrees in physics and electrical engineering, Ochoa started developing optical and computer processing technology that automated spacecraft use.
Then she joined NASA’s astronaut corps and served on four different missions to space, serving in a range of roles.
In one case she used a robotic arm to “catch” a satellite.
And on that same mission, she became the first person to play the flute in low Earth orbit.
After all that, Ochoa went on to serve as director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
I told you, she can do it all!
An art student in China known as FudouKamui built a wild installation called “This Is The Proof Of Our Stupidity.”
It’s a vending machine for china plates and cups, only there’s no padding at the bottom, so they break when they come up.
Oh, and also the plates are all the same, but the prices are different for each rack.
On the plus side, you don’t really need to shake the machine if the plate you want gets stuck.
Ellen Ochoa: A Pioneer on Land and in Space (National Archives)
Broken Plate Vending Machine (The Awesomer)
Our backers on Patreon are also our heroes
Photo via NASA
