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 Caribbean and Puerto Rican origin, and the twelfth of fifteen people of Ibero-American heritage to have flown to space as a NASA astronaut.

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.

Early life and education

Acaba's parents, Ralph and Elsie Acabá, from Hatillo, Puerto Rico, moved in the mid-1960s to Inglewood, California, where he was born. They later moved to Anaheim, California, where they still reside. 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. 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 outside of the station to a different location. On March 28 the and its seven-person crew 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.

Expedition 31/32

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, Padalka, and Revin returned to Earth on September 17, 2012, after nearly 125 days in space.

Between space missions

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 a 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.

Expedition 53/54

In 2017 it was announced that Acaba would return to the ISS for his third mission, onboard Soyuz MS-06. The Soyuz vehicle was originally slated to launch with a crew of 2, due to the Russian crew cuts on the ISS for 2017, however, at short notice, it was decided that the 3rd seat would be filled by an experienced astronaut and would be funded by Roscosmos to cancel out owed debts. Acaba's backup for the mission was Shannon Walker, who was scheduled to fly as prime crew on Soyuz MS-12 as part of Expedition 59/60, although as of December 2018, she is not assigned to that crew

Acaba launched on Soyuz MS-06 on September 12, 2017, performing a 6-hour rendezvous with the ISS. On October 20, 2017, Acaba and Randy Bresnik performed an EVA to continue with the lubrication of the new end effector on the robotic arm and to install new cameras. The duration was 6 hours and 49 minutes. During the mission Acaba's home in Houston was flooded by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria struck his native Puerto Rico.

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Recognition

thumb|upright|Acaba's name is inscribed in the American Astronaut Wall of Fame in Winslow, Arizona.

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 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.

See also

References

  • Spacefacts biography of Joseph Acaba
  • NASA biography
  • Video of NASA HQ Social event December 2012