PBS News Hour

March is Women's History Month.

So over the next few weeks, we're highlighting stories of women whose accomplishments have often not gotten widespread recognition.

MAN: Hello, Ellen.

ELLEN OCHOA, NASA Astronaut: Hello there.

I'm up here taking pictures to support the experiment.

JOHN YANG: Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman in space.

She logged nearly 1,000 hours in space over the course of four missions between 1999 and 2002.

MAN: Astronaut Ellen Ochoa is maneuvering the robotic arm into a position where it will be for the start of the spacewalk.

JOHN YANG: And engineer she directed her fellow astronauts on spacewalks from the International Space Station.

Ochoa went on to become the first Hispanic person to be head of the Johnson Space Center.

ELLEN OCHOA: This is a really exciting and important mission for us.

We will in the future be putting our astronauts on board and we're testing some of the highest risks.

JOHN YANG: Today she's an advocate for STEM education and has written a bilingual children's book, We Are All Scientists.