Joseph M. Acaba

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. 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 that 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. His scuba experience inspired him to further his academic education in geology. In 1985, he graduated with honors from Esperanza High School in Anaheim.

In 1990, Acaba received his bachelor's degree in geology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and in 1992, he earned his master's degree in geology from the University of Arizona. Acaba was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve where he served for six years. He also worked as a hydrogeologist in Los Angeles, California. Acaba spent two years in the United States Peace Corps and trained over 300 teachers in the Dominican Republic in modern teaching methodologies.

He then served as island manager of the Caribbean Marine Research at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas. Upon his return to the United States, Acaba moved to Florida, where he became shoreline revegetation coordinator in Vero Beach. He taught one year of science and math in high school and four years at Dunnellon Middle School. He also briefly taught at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida.

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.

NASA career

On May 6, 2004, Acaba and ten other people were selected from 99 applicants by NASA as astronaut candidates. NASA's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, in the presence of John Glenn, announced the members of the '19th group of Astronaut Candidates', an event which has not been repeated since 1958 when the original group of astronauts was presented to the world. Acaba, selected as an Educator Mission Specialist, completed his astronaut training on February 10, 2006.

Upon completion, he was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the International Space Station branch, working technical issues with European Space Agency hardware. Acaba was assigned to the crew of STS-119 as mission specialist educator, launched on March 15, 2009, after NASA engineers repaired a leaky gas venting system, to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the ISS. Acaba carried a Puerto Rican flag and requested the crew be awakened on March 19 with the Puerto Rico folklore song 'Qué Bonita Bandera'.

On March 21, he performed a spacewalk with Steve Swanson to unfurl the final solar array wings. On March 23, he performed his second EVA with Ricky Arnold to help move the CETA carts. The mission landed on March 28 at Kennedy Space Center. On May 15, 2012, Acaba launched from Kazakhstan aboard Soyuz TMA-04M with Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, docking with the ISS on May 17; they returned on September 17 after nearly 125 days.

Acaba served as Branch Chief of the International Space Station Operations branch, responsible for mission preparation and on-orbit support. He later served as Director of Operations Russia in Star City supporting crew training. In September 2019, Acaba served as cavenaut in ESA CAVES training, spending six nights underground simulating a mission exploring another planet. Acaba launched on Soyuz MS-06 on September 12, 2017, for Expedition 53/54.

On October 20, 2017, he and Randy Bresnik performed a 6-hour 49-minute EVA to lubricate the new end effector on the robotic arm and install new cameras. In February 2023, Acaba became Chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA, replacing acting chief Drew Feustel. He is the first person of Hispanic heritage selected to lead the office responsible for assigning astronauts to missions and develop flight crew operation concepts.

Recognition

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, announced by then President of the Puerto Rican Senate Kenneth McClintock, he met with schoolchildren at the Capitol and at the Bayamón Science Park, which includes a planetarium and several surplus NASA rockets. 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.