José M. Hernández - Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut

In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

Copyright 2012 by Jos M. Hernndez

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos are from the authors personal collection.

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ISBN 978-1-4555-2281-1

This book is dedicated to all the children who look up in the sky at the stars and envision a better tomorrownot just for themselves, but for the world.

How does a person say thank you when he has a lifetimes worth of people to thank? I have been blessed to have had so many astounding people who have crossed my path and helped me achieve my dream to reach the stars.

Education has played a vital role in making me who I am today. For that, I have to thank those educators who believed in me and who tirelessly worked to make me believe in myself. I am grateful to my second grade teacher, Ms. Marlesse Young, who gave me my first astronomy book and who was the first person to stand up for my future. To Mrs. Sylvia Bello, my Spanish and biology teacher, and to Mr. David Ellis, my math instructor and a superb racquetball player, I offer my heartfelt thanks. I wish I could have expressed my gratitude to the late Mr. Salvador Zendejas, my high school history teacher, who taught me to embrace my culture. I truly appreciate Mr. Vance Paulsen, my high school counselor, for giving me my first real paying job at the Tillie Lewis Cannery. I also wish the late Dr. Andrs Rodrguez, my college physics professor, could know how much it meant for him to teach me to keep my chin up.

Professionally, I have been so lucky to have been surrounded by such amazing mentors, as well as such energetic and successful coworkers. Mr. Frank Inami, the recruiter at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, took a chance on me and that has made all the difference in my life. As the laboratorys engineering director of diversity, Ms. Shirley McDavid coached me throughout my career at the laboratory; in the process, I happily came to consider her as my second mother. I am incredibly grateful to Mr. Clint Logan, my mentor and good friend, for having the foresight to see the medical applications of our X-ray laser research and for allowing me to play a part in developing lifesaving technology. I appreciate the time Clint spent using a red pen to review the technical details of our work in the manuscript. Thank you also to my first boss at NASA, Ms. Irene Kaye, who challenged me to do my best.

I would like to express my deep appreciation to members of my family who have nurtured, supported, loved, and encouraged me my whole life. I learned so much from each of my siblingsall of whom are older than me. Their advice throughout my schooling was invaluable. My oldest brother, Salvador Jr., set the educational achievement bar for the rest of us siblings to reach. I try to follow in the example of my sister, Leticia, who has done a wonderful job raising a wonderful family. And, of course, I am happy to vicariously live through my free-spirited eternal bachelor of a brother, Gil. I would like to thank Salvador and Julia, the two people whoin spite of having just a third grade educationwere expert motivators. My parents not only managed to give their four children a college education, but they also gave their youngest the license to dream. Words could never truly express my gratitude for their belief in me, and I do not know what I would have done without their recipe to achieve what would have otherwise seemed impossible. My beautiful wife, Adela, has crisscrossed the country with me in search of my dream, and I know how lucky I am to have her in my life. She is, without a doubt, the foundation that keeps our family solidly grounded. I thank my son Julio, who is wise beyond his years; Karina, for being so nurturing; Vanessa, for being so much like me; Yesenia, for academically challenging the rest of her siblings; and Antonio, for his promise to take care of Adela and me when we get old. You kids really make us look like excellent parents!

Finally, I would like to thank the folks related to the creation of this book. Thanks to Oprah Winfrey, whoafter interviewing me on her showsuggested I write a book to tell my story, and to world-renowned Spanish-language reporter and commentator Mr. Jorge Ramos. I am thankful for my good friend Emilio Estefan, who so kindly agreed to write the Foreword. An enormous amount of gratitude is owed to my fellow Pacific alum and aspiring writer/director Jorge Ramirez-Martinez for diligently helping me with the composition of my stories. To the talented Emilia Pablo-Montao, who helped put the finishing touches on this book, I offer my sincere thanks. Last but not least, thanks to Jennifer Wadsworth for devoting herself to meticulously editing the manuscript and for providing intelligent, insightful suggestions that have helped me share my story with all of you in the best way I can.

This is my story and Ive recorded it here to the best of my recollection. I thank all the people who touched my life and helped me achieve my dreams and I have tried to accurately portray our conversations and time together.

It is my honor to be able to introduce Jos Hernndezs amazing story of hard work, perseverance, and determination. When he reached the stars, he had no idea how many of us he was taking along with him on his journey.

The foundation of his story begins with his parents, so I would like to start by congratulating them for all the sacrifices they made for Jos and for the rest of their family. I strongly believe it is their example that both inspired Joss insatiable drive to achieve his dreams and contributed to his love for his family, his wife, and his children.

Jos is living proof that there are no barriers that should hold anyone back from setting and achieving goals in life. Jos began learning English at twelve years old; yet, he attained a degree in engineering that led to research that consequently helped so many by astonishingly contributing to the early detection of cancer. Furthermore, he did not let numerous rejections from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) get in the way of reaching for the stars, and he became the first astronaut to tweet