It took José Hernández 37 years and 11 rejections before he reached his dream of becoming a NASA astronaut. Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies welcomed Hernández last week as the 2024 Richard T. and Virginia M. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professor. Speaking to a group of students and faculty, staff and community members, he said perseverance was the secret to ultimately achieving his goal.
“Do the hard work, enjoy the process and never give up,” he told the audience.
Hear Hernández's inspiring story.
One of four children in a migrant farming family from Mexico, Hernández spent much of his childhood working with his family to harvest crops in California.
His remarkable journey from migrant farmworker to space explorer is depicted in the Amazon Prime film “A Million Miles Away.”
When Hernández, who didn’t learn English until he was 12 years old, first told his father about his dream of becoming an astronaut, his dad offered advice he says anyone can follow. “My father validated my dream and then told me to recognize how far I was from my goal, create a road map, get an education and use the strong work ethic I developed from being a farmworker,” Hernández said. “So that’s what I did.”
After applying to NASA 12 times, Hernández earned a spot on the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station.
