Resilience & Perseverance
José Hernández
Former NASA Astronaut & Subject of "A Million Miles Away"
Investment
$37,000, plus a $3,000 air travel buy-out, plus hotel and local transfers
Based In
United States
The Biography
José Hernández is a former NASA astronaut who rose from being the son of migrant farmworkers to flying on a space shuttle mission in 2009. He worked on the International Space Station and is known for his perseverance, having been rejected by NASA 11 times before being selected on his 12th attempt. His life is the subject of the 2023 Amazon Prime Video biopic, “A Million Miles Away,” which tells the story of his life and his journey to space.
Signature Topics
A former migrant farmworker who didn't speak English until age 12, José was rejected by NASA eleven times before becoming an astronaut — his story, dramatized in the film A Million Miles Away, anchors a keynote about STEM access and what it takes to open a path for people the system wasn't built for.
José speaks on the discipline required to keep pursuing an improbable goal across more than a decade of rejection — and what sustained him through eleven consecutive nos before the twelfth attempt succeeded.
In Their Own Voice
Video reel — captions available on the platform. Open original.