The book the new film A Million Miles Away is based on.Born into a family of migrant workers, toiling in the fields by the age of six, Jose M. Hernàndez dreamed of traveling through the night skies on a rocket ship. Reaching for the Stars is the inspiring story of how he realized that dream, becoming the first Mexican-American astronaut.
Hernàndez didn't speak English till he was 12, and his peers often joined gangs, or skipped school. And yet, by his twenties he was part of an elite team helping develop technology for the early detection of breast cancer. He was turned down by NASA eleven times on his long journey to donning that famous orange space suit.
Hernàndez message of hard work, education, perseverance, of "reaching for the stars," makes this a classic American autobiography.
José M. Hernández is an engineer and a former NASA astronaut who was part of the crew of the STS-128 Space Shuttle mission. Hernández also founded the Reaching for the Stars Foundation, a non-profit organization that "strives to ensure opportunities for children to pursue their educational and professional goals regardless of perceived obstacles."
