Last week, our newest Real Reads author and former NASA astronaut Dr. José Hernández spoke with 150 students online at Skyline High School in Dallas. Hernández shared memories from his book From Farmworker to Astronaut, based on his life growing up in California as a migrant farmworker and his STS-128 space mission in 2009. His first memory of deciding to become an astronaut came about after watching the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The students at Skyline had many questions for Dr. Hernández and we included some of the highlights below.
Q&A with Astronaut Jose Hernandez and Skyline High School, Dallas ISD
What kept you motivated when you were younger?
JH: My family had high expectations for me and I did not want to let them down. If I stuck to my dream, I could contribute to my family by graduating from high school and college.
Does ‘time’ work differently in space?
JH: While in space, you go around the world once every 90 minutes (the day lasts 45 minutes and the night lasts 45 minutes). However, we followed the same schedule as our peers stationed at mission control in Houston. We closed the blinds when the sun was out so that we could get some sleep.
Any scary moments during the training or while in space?
JH: During training, there’s an underwater simulation while you’re inside an upside-down helicopter. You go through it three times and each time tests your abilities, including communicating with your team members while holding your breath and exiting the helicopter while being blindfolded.
How did it feel when the rocket first launched?
JH: Best ride Disneyland can ever hope for! After eight-and-a-half minutes, you reach space and it feels like you are weighed down by three hundred pounds or that three people are standing on you while you are lying down.
Dr. Hernández also shared six important ingredients for his recipe for success, which was passed on to him by his father: define your goal in life, recognize how far you are from your goal, draw yourself a road map, stay in school, put in the effort in your studies, and persevere…never give up.
“If you put in the effort, anything is possible.” – Dr. José Hernández
