Born in Los Angeles, California, Ellen Ochoa received her masters degrees in science and electrical engineering from Stanford University after graduating from San Diego State University in 1980. Ochoa applied her studies to the field of optics. While at NASA's Ames Research Center she received patents for inventions in optical inspection systems, optical recognition methods, and a method for noise removal in images.

Her passion in optics led her to be selected to the astronaut program by NASA in 1990. After training at Johnson Space Center in Houston she became a full fledged astronaut in 1991. Ochoa's first mission took place on the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1993, code named STS-56. As a Mission Specialist Ochoa conducted atmospheric and solar studies over a 9 day period.

Later Ochoa flew on a second mission, STS-66, in November of 1994. This time as a Payload Commander Ochoa studied the sun and its effects on our environment. In total Ochoa logged close to 500 hours in space. Her groundbreaking endeavors have garnered her many accolades among both the science and Latino community.