Жозеф Акаба: ғарышкер, педагог және гидрогеолог

American educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut

Joseph Michael Acabá (born May 17, 1967) is an American educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut. In May 2004, he became the first person of Puerto Rican ancestry 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 28, 2009, to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. He is the first person of Puerto Rican origin, and the twelfth of fifteen people of Ibero american heritage to have flown to space. Acabá served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, having launched on May 15, 2012. He arrived at the space station on May 17 and returned to Earth on September 17, 2012. Acaba returned to the International Space Station in 2017 as a member of Expedition 53/54. 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. Upon his return to Florida in fall 2012, Acaba began coursework in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. He earned his Master of Education, curriculum and instruction from Texas Tech University in 2015. 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, 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 with Steve Swanson in which he helped to successfully unfurl the final "wings" of the solar array that will augment power to the ISS. 2 days later, Acaba performed his second EVA of the mission, with crew member Ricky Arnold. The main task of the EVA was to help move the CETA carts on the outside of the station to a different location. 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.

On May 15, 2012, Acaba was one of three crew members launching from Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz TMA 04M spacecraft to the International Space Station. He and his fellow crew members, Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, arrived and docked with the space station two days after launch, on May 17 at 4:36 UTC. Acaba, along with Padalka and Revin, returned to Earth on September 17, 2012, after nearly 125 days in space.

Acaba served as the Branch Chief of the International Space Station Operations branch. The office is responsible for mission preparation and on orbit support of space station crews. Until being selected as flight engineer for Expedition 54\Expedition 55 Acaba served as Director of Operations Russia in Star City supporting crew training in Soyuz and Russian Segment systems. in ESA CAVES training (between Italy and Slovenia) spending six nights underground simulating a mission exploring another planet.

In February, 2023, Acaba became Chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA. Acaba replaced Drew Feustel who was acting chief after Reid Wiseman stepped down from the position.

On March 18, 2008, Acaba was honored by the Senate of Puerto Rico, which sponsored his first trip to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico since being selected for space flight. During his visit, which was announced by 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 then Governor Luis Fortuño. He spent seven days on the island and came into contact with over 10,000 persons, most of them schoolchildren. He received the Ana G. Mendez University System Presidential Medal and an Honorary Doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, where he inaugurated a flight simulator on February 7, 2013, during one of his visits to Puerto Rico to promote the study of math and science among students, as well as to visit his relatives. Caras Magazine named him one of the most influential and exciting Puerto Ricans of 2012.