Mar 23, 2012 - Claremont, Calif. -

Astronaut José Hernández will deliver a public lecture March 28 in celebration of César Chávez at Harvey Mudd College.

Hernández’s presentation, “A Journey to the Stars,” will feature stories from his years with NASA.

Hernández served as a mission specialist on the crew of the STS-128 Discovery mission to the International Space Station from August 28 to September 11, 2009. During that mission, the crew attached the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), transferred more than 18,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, and conducted three spacewalks.

He is also credited with issuing the first Spanish tweet from space: “Espero la cosecha de mi sueño sirva como inspiración a todos! Acabo de configuarar las computadoras. Buenas Noches! (I hope that the harvest of my dream will serve as an inspiration to everyone! I just finished configuring the computers. Good night!)”

Hernández grew up in California’s Central Valley and considers Stockton, Calif. his home. The son of migrant farm workers, he grew up traveling with the growing seasons, picking produce alongside his siblings. He attended many schools and didn’t learn to speak English until the age of 12.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of the Pacific and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In addition to NASA, Hernández has also worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and is a well-known expert in the area of X-ray physics and image processing. He’s currently a candidate for California’s 10th Congressional District.

Free and open to the public, the presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in HMC’s Galileo Lecture Hall.