In this image from Jan. 15, 2003, astronaut Carlos I. Noriega, spacecraft communicator, smiles while sitting at his console in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. At the time this photo was taken, astronauts Kenneth D. Bowersox and Donald R. Pettit, Expedition 6 mission commander and NASA International Space Station science officer, respectively, were taking part in the mission’s only scheduled spacewalk.
Noriega was selected by NASA in December 1994 to become an astronaut. He flew on STS-84 in 1997 and STS-97 in 2000. He logged more than 481 hours in space, including over 19 hours in three spacewalks. He retired from the astronaut corps in 2005.
Read more about some of NASA’s Hispanic astronauts.
Image Credit: NASA
