'A Million Miles Away'—José Hernández's story, from migrant to astronaut
Mexican-American astronaut José Hernández's story is the stuff dreams (and films) are made of! From being a migrant worker who picked cherries in the summers as a kid to being rejected by NASA 11 times to finally venturing into space, Hernández's life is emboldened with perseverance, grit, and inimitable brilliance. His life story is now Amazon Prime Video's film A Million Miles Away.
Difficult beginnings: He worked in fields during childhood
Though he was born in California, his parents had migrated from Michoacán, Mexico, and summer vacations meant "working for seven days in the fields." "I'd tell [my kids], they'd better start taking school seriously because if they don't do that, they will be all the time working in the fields...That will be their future," Hernández's father recalled in a 2009 interview.
Kept shifting schools, learnt English at 12
He kept shifting cities and spent most of his time sweating it out in the fields. It was not until he turned 12 that he learned to speak English—a task made harder by shifting schools frequently. Hernández's first vivid memory that ignited his ambition for space was in 1972 when he "adjusted the television" to watch the Apollo 17 mission.
Grit: Earned science degrees from top colleges
Hernández poured himself into education pursuits, earning a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific, followed by an M.S. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California. He worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he contributed to the first full-field digital mammography imaging system—used in breast cancer detection. He was with LLNL for 15 years (till 2001).
Breakthrough: He was selected as an astronaut at 41
In 2001, Hernández started at the Johnson Space Center, Texas, and kept applying to be an astronaut. His efforts fructified after 11 rejections, in 2004, when he was 41. In 2008, Hernández joined NASA's STS-128 mission as a mission specialist and later said, "From my perspective, down below, we were all one. How sad that humans invented the concept of borders to divide us."
The movie draws heavily from his memoir
In 2012, Hernández authored his memoir Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut, which served as the basis of A Million Miles Away. He has a brief cameo in it and believes that the film is a "great opportunity to motivate those who [want to] maximize their potential and realize any dream they have."
Cast and crew: Know more about the movie
A Million Miles Away has been helmed by Alejandra Márquez Abella and written by Bettina Gilois, Hernán Jiménez, and Abella. Michael Peña portrays Hernández's role, while the character of his wife Adela Hernández has been essayed by Rosa Salazar. Released on September 15, it debuted as the most popular movie on the streamer and received largely positive reviews from critics worldwide.
