Joseph M. Acaba
Encyclopedia
Joseph Michael "Joe" Acaba (born May 17, 1967 in Inglewood, California
) is an educator
, hydrogeologist
, and NASA
astronaut
. In May 2004 he became the first person of Puerto Rican
heritage to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Training Group 19. He completed his training on February 10, 2006 and was assigned to STS-119
, which flew from March 15 to March 28, 2009 to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station
.
, moved in the mid-1960s to Inglewood, California
. They later moved to Anaheim, California
. Since his childhood, Acaba enjoyed reading, especially science fiction
. In school, he excelled in both science and math. As a child, his parents constantly exposed him to educational films, but it was the 8-mm film showing astronaut Neil Armstrong
's Moon landing
which really intrigued him about outer space
. During his senior year in high school, Acaba became interested in scuba diving
and became a certified scuba diver through a job training program at his school. This experience inspired him to further his academic education in the field of geology
. In 1985, he graduated with honors from Esperanza High School in Anaheim.
in Geology
from the University of California, Santa Barbara
and in 1992, he earned his Master's degree
in Geology from the University of Arizona
. Acaba was a Sergeant
in the United States Marine Corps
Reserves where he served for six years. He also worked as a hydrogeologist in Los Angeles, California
. Acaba spent two years in the United States Peace Corps
and trained over 300 teachers in the Dominican Republic
in modern teaching methodologies. He then served as Island Manager of the Caribbean
Marine Research at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas. Upon his return to the U.S.
, Acaba moved to Florida
where he became Shoreline Revegetation Coordinator in Vero Beach
. Acaba taught one year of science and math in high school and four years at Dunnellon Middle School. He also briefly taught at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida
.
On May 6, 2004, Acaba and ten other people were selected from 99 applicants by NASA as astronaut candidates. NASA's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, in the presence of John Glenn
, announced the members of the "19th group of Astronaut Candidates", an event which has not been repeated since 1958 when the original group of astronauts was presented to the world. Acaba, who was selected as an Educator Mission Specialist, completed his astronaut training on February 10, 2006 along with the other ten Astronaut Candidates. Upon completion of his training, Acaba was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the International Space Station
branch, working technical issues with European Space Agency
(ESA) hardware.
Acaba was assigned to the crew of STS-119
as Mission Specialist Educator, which was launched on March 15, 2009 at 7:43 p.m., after NASA engineers repaired a leaky gas venting system the previous week, to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. Acaba, who carried on his person a Puerto Rican flag
, requested that the crew be awakened on March 19 (Day 5) with the Puerto Rico folklore song "Qué Bonita Bandera" (What a Beautiful Flag) referring to the Puerto Rican flag, written in 1971 by Florencio Morales Ramos
(Ramito) and sung by Jose Gonzalez and Banda Criolla.
On March 20, he provided support to the first mission spacewalk and on March 21, he performed a spacewalk in which he helped to successfully unfurl the final "wings" of the solar array that will augment power to the ISS, as it prepares to double its capacity to house six astronauts in the future. On March 28 the and its crew of seven safely touched down on runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:14 p.m. EDT. Acaba said he was amazed at the views from the space station.
, which sponsored his first trip to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico since being selected for space flight. During his visit, which was announced by the then President of the Puerto Rican Senate, Kenneth McClintock
, he met with schoolchildren at the Capitol, as well as at the Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Science Park, which includes a planetarium and several surplus NASA
rockets among its exhibits. Acaba, returned to Puerto Rico on June 1, 2009. During his visit, he was presented with a proclamation by Governor Luis Fortuño
. He spent seven days on the island and came into contact with over 10,000 persons, most of them schoolchildren. He also received the Ana G. Mendez
University System Presidential Medal and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
.
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
) is an educator
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, hydrogeologist
Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust, . The term geohydrology is often used interchangeably...
, and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
. In May 2004 he became the first person of Puerto Rican
Puerto Ricans in the United States
Stateside Puerto Ricans are American citizens of Puerto Rican origin, including those who migrated from Puerto Rico to the United States and those who were born outside of Puerto Rico in the United States...
heritage to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Training Group 19. He completed his training on February 10, 2006 and was assigned to STS-119
STS-119
-Crew notes:This mission was originally scheduled to bring the Expedition 9 crew to the ISS. This crew would have consisted of:-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: * Apogee:...
, which flew from March 15 to March 28, 2009 to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
Early life
Acaba's parents, Ralph and Elsie Acabá, from Hatillo, Puerto RicoHatillo, Puerto Rico
Hatillo is a municipality located on Puerto Rico's north coast, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Lares and Utuado to the south, Camuy to the west, and Arecibo to the east. According to the 2000 US Census Hatillo is spread over 9 wards and Hatillo Pueblo...
, moved in the mid-1960s to Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
. They later moved to Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. Since his childhood, Acaba enjoyed reading, especially science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. In school, he excelled in both science and math. As a child, his parents constantly exposed him to educational films, but it was the 8-mm film showing astronaut Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
's Moon landing
Project Apollo
The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...
which really intrigued him about outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
. During his senior year in high school, Acaba became interested in scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
and became a certified scuba diver through a job training program at his school. This experience inspired him to further his academic education in the field of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
. In 1985, he graduated with honors from Esperanza High School in Anaheim.
Education
In 1990, Acaba received his Bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
from the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
and in 1992, he earned his Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Geology from the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. Acaba was a Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Reserves where he served for six years. He also worked as a hydrogeologist in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Acaba spent two years in the United States Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
and trained over 300 teachers in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
in modern teaching methodologies. He then served as Island Manager of the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
Marine Research at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas. Upon his return to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Acaba moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
where he became Shoreline Revegetation Coordinator in Vero Beach
Vero Beach, Florida
Vero Beach is a city in Indian River County, Florida, USA. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 16,939. It is the county seat of Indian River County...
. Acaba taught one year of science and math in high school and four years at Dunnellon Middle School. He also briefly taught at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2009, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,323. The municipal area is the second largest by size and by population in the county. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida...
.
NASA career
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
, announced the members of the "19th group of Astronaut Candidates", an event which has not been repeated since 1958 when the original group of astronauts was presented to the world. Acaba, who was selected as an Educator Mission Specialist, completed his astronaut training on February 10, 2006 along with the other ten Astronaut Candidates. Upon completion of his training, Acaba was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
branch, working technical issues with European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...
(ESA) hardware.
STS-119
-Crew notes:This mission was originally scheduled to bring the Expedition 9 crew to the ISS. This crew would have consisted of:-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: * Apogee:...
as Mission Specialist Educator, which was launched on March 15, 2009 at 7:43 p.m., after NASA engineers repaired a leaky gas venting system the previous week, to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. Acaba, who carried on his person a Puerto Rican flag
Flag of Puerto Rico
The flags of Puerto Rico represent and symbolize the island and people of Puerto Rico. The most commonly used flags of Puerto Rico are the current flag, which represents the people of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico; municipal flags, which represent the different regions of the island; political...
, requested that the crew be awakened on March 19 (Day 5) with the Puerto Rico folklore song "Qué Bonita Bandera" (What a Beautiful Flag) referring to the Puerto Rican flag, written in 1971 by Florencio Morales Ramos
Florencio Morales Ramos
Florencio "Flor" Morales Ramos , much more better known as Ramito, was a famous Puerto Rican singer, trovador, and composer who was a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico. He is considered the king of Jíbaro music...
(Ramito) and sung by Jose Gonzalez and Banda Criolla.
On March 20, he provided support to the first mission spacewalk and on March 21, he performed a spacewalk in which he helped to successfully unfurl the final "wings" of the solar array that will augment power to the ISS, as it prepares to double its capacity to house six astronauts in the future. On March 28 the and its crew of seven safely touched down on runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:14 p.m. EDT. Acaba said he was amazed at the views from the space station.
"It was kind of surreal to look out the window and see your two buddies out there that you've been training with for a long time and see them out there…it was a special moment," said Acaba.
Recognition
On March 18, 2008, Acaba was honored by the Senate of Puerto RicoSenate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
, which sponsored his first trip to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico since being selected for space flight. During his visit, which was announced by the then President of the Puerto Rican Senate, Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
, he met with schoolchildren at the Capitol, as well as at the Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
Science Park, which includes a planetarium and several surplus NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
rockets among its exhibits. Acaba, returned to Puerto Rico on June 1, 2009. During his visit, he was presented with a proclamation by Governor Luis Fortuño
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
. He spent seven days on the island and came into contact with over 10,000 persons, most of them schoolchildren. He also received the Ana G. Mendez
Ana G. Méndez
Ana G. Méndez was an educator who founded the Ana G. Mendez University System in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
University System Presidential Medal and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
The Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico —commonly referred as Poly or La Poly in Spanish— is a private non-profit university located in San Juan, Puerto Rico...
.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
- List of Puerto Ricans in the United States Space Program
- Hispanics in the United States Marine CorpsHispanics in the United States Marine CorpsHispanics in the United States Marine Corps, such as Private France Silva who during the Boxer Rebellion became the first Marine of the thirteen Marines of Hispanic descent to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and Private First Class Guy Gabaldon who is credited with capturing over 1,000 enemy...