Sports in the Bay
Photos by M.S. McDaniel
Every since he was a kid, Jose Hernandez loved math and science. Growing up in Stockton, the 47-year old father of five also loved something else, the Oakland Raiders.
Loving all three of those things has put him in the history books. On August 28th Hernandez, an engineer, became the first Hispanic astronaut American to fly into space and to be honored on the field at a Raiders game.
Donning his space uniform and a Raiders hat Hernandez presented Raiders legend Jim Otto with the framed flag that he took into space in a pre-game ceremony. Hernandez’ two-week mission ended on September 11th.
“I bleed Silver and Black,” Hernandez told Sports in the Bay.
Of Mexican descent, Hernandez was responsible for developing equipment for full-field digital mammography at the Lawrence Livermore Nation Laboratory in Livermore.
A product of migrant workers, he didn’t speak English until the age of 12 years old but that didn’t stop him.
He would go on to graduate with a B.S. from the University of the Pacific and a M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of California – Santa Barbara as well as receive several NASA awards.
When he was asked about his trip to space Hernandez had one word: “UNBELIEVABLE.”
We know it won’t be his last.
Congratulations Commander Hernandez!
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