Latinos+Essay+AK2

=Resources=
 * Mixbook Sample Book: Famous Americans
 * Scholastic - Latinos in History
 * FactMonster.com
 * [|Wikipedia]

Pedro Duque:
 * Born on March 14, 1963 in Madrid, Spain
 * Enjoys swimming, diving, and cycling
 * Joined the Grupo Mecanica del Vuelo in 1986
 * Received a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
 * He worked at the European Space Agency before being selected to join the ESA astronaut corps in 1992
 * First Spanish citizen to go to space.
 * In 1995, he was selected by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration as an alternate payload specialist for the STS-78 mission
 * In 1996, he entered the Mission Specialist Class at NASA's Johnson Space Center
 * Flew into space in 1998 as a mission specialist on the //Discovery// and lasted for nine days and was studying the Sun
 * In 1999, Duque was assigned to ESA's Technical Heart in Noordwijik, the Netherlands, supporting the Module Projects Division
 * In 2001, he was chosen to attend an advance training class for the International Space Station
 * In 2003, he flew in space as a flight engineer on Soyuz TMA-3


 * Essay:**

Do you know how many Hispanics do to make a difference in science and technology? Well they can do so much for us, and we sometimes don’t recognize what they’re doing to help make a difference in today’s world. Every day, Hispanics do research on subjects that people find or see and they try to find explanations on what the subject is. For their profession, Hispanics enjoy being a scientist or being an astronaut because they want to help improve science and technology that we have right now. Pedro Duque is one of those people who wanted to help improve science and technology. He currently works for NASA as an ESA (European Space Agency) Astronaut. He was born on March 14, 1963, in Madrid, Spain. Duque enjoys swimming, diving, and cycling. Also, Duque was the first Spanish citizen to go into space. (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica).

During his studies at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Duque worked on a flight simulator project in the laboratory of Flight Mechanics under an ESA contract. He received a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from his studies at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Duque joined the Grupo Mecanica del Vuelo in 1986, and he became a technical leader in a helicopter rotor simulation project. Later in the year, he was sent as a staff to ESA’s European Space Operations Center in Germany to work in the Precise Orbit Determination Group. From 1986 to 1992, Duque also worked on the development of models for orbit determination, algorithms, and implementation of orbit computation software. He was a part of the Flight Control Team, the Orbit Determination, of ESA’s ERS-1 and EURECA satellites. (Encyclopedia Astronautica Duque).

In May 1992, Duque was selected to join the ESA Astronaut Corps base on his work and effort at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Germany. During that same year, he completed the Introductory Training Program at EAC, and also completed a four-week training program at the Russian Astronauts Training Centre (TsPK) in Star City, Russia. When Duque was in Russia, he saw the future ESA-Russian collaboration on the Mir Space Station. In August 1993, he returned to TsPK to train for the ESA-Russian EuroMir- 94 mission. During the mission, he was the main Crew Interface Coordinator in the Russian Mission Control Centre. Duque’s role was to be the main contact with the ESA Astronaut, Ulf Merbold onboard Mir, and he was also the coordinator between Mir and the project management. (Encyclopedia Astronautica Duque).

Duque was selected as an Alternate Payload Specialist Astronaut by NASA for the Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission in May 1995. During the 17-day mission, he worked with the Crew Interface Coordinators between the on ground and the crew onboard Colombia for experiment issues. In 1996, he was one of the many to be selected to attend NASA Astronaut Candidate Training. Duque entered the Mission Specialist Class at NASA for 2 years of training and evaluation. This training led him to be certified as a Mission Specialist. In November 1997, he has been selected to fly, the first time, on the STS-95 mission that’s been scheduled on October 1998. (Encyclopedia Astronautica Duque).

Before flying on the STS-95 Discovery, that was a 9-day mission,the crew had to support a variety of research including the deployment of the Spartan Solar-Observing Spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems, and investigations on space flight and the aging process. Duque was responsible for the five ESA scientific facilities and the computer system on the Space Shuttle. Once they took off, Duque served as a Mission Specialist. The mission was successful in 134 Earth orbits, traveling about 3.6 million miles in 213 hours and 44 minutes. (Encyclopedia Astronautica Duque).

Pedro Duque worked so hard to be in the position he is right now. Duque was just a man who received his degree in Aeronautical Engineering, but now he is currently the Head of the Flight Operations Office. ( Pedro Duque / Astronauts / Human Spaceflight / Our Activities / ESA). Duque discovered many things while he was working at ESA and accomplished what he did. I think that if we work hard in something we want to make a difference in, we can do it. Having big or small dreams can be accomplished in what you love the most. For Duque, his dream was being an astronaut, but I bet he didn’t think he would be one until now.

=**Works Cited:**=

"Encyclopedia Astronautica Duque." Duque. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. < [] >.
 * This is a valid source of information because the biography for Pedro Duque is a NASA official biography for him.

"Pedro Duque / Astronauts / Human Spaceflight / Our Activities / ESA." European Space Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. < [] >.


 * This is a valid source of information because it is created by ESA that have information that are true.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Pedro Duque (Spanish Aeronautical Engineer and Astronaut)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. < [] >.


 * This is a valid source of information because this website is written by the Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica.