Amid growing interest in Space programs around the world especially in India, Amazon Prime Video brought an incredible inspiring movie titled- A Million Miles Away. Directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella, A Million Miles Away was released on Amazon Prime Video on September 15, 2023. The interest around A Million Miles Away movie can understood by the fact that it has been endorsed by NASA itself. Apart from an impeccably inspiring storyline of a farmer who dreams of becoming an astronaut, A Million Miles Away has a stellar starcast that features Michael Pena who plays the character of José Hernandez, Rosa Salazar as Adela, Sarayu Blue as Kalpana Chawla, Julio Cesar Cedillo as Salvador, Garret Dillahunt as Sturckow, Bobby Soto as Beto, Eric Johnson as Clint Logan, Jordan Dean as Weissberg, etc. A Million Miles Away is a true story based on NASA flight engineer José Hernández and an inspiring decade-long journey from a rural village in Michoacán, Mexico, to more than 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station.
Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop News assumes that you already have watched the movie on Amazon Prime Video or planning to watch it and therefore have an interest in knowing about 'real-life' Jose Hernandez and his current profession or simply about A Million Miles Away True Story. Below is everything you need to know about A Million Miles Away's Real story-
Is A Million Miles Away True Story?
As mentioned above, A Million Miles Away is a real story based on NASA's flight engineer Jose Hernandez which depicts his inspiring decade-long journey from a rural village in Michoacán, Mexico to a million miles away in the International Space Station. To be precise, A Million Miles Away is based on Hernández’s autobiography, “Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut,” released in 2012.
Who is Jose Hernandez?
Jose Hernandez was born in French Camp, California, however, his parents were originally from Michoacán, Mexico. As depicted in the film, and confirmed by Márquez Abella, Hernández’s family followed the seasonal harvests. As a child, he worked in the fields with his parents. Till the age of 12, Jode Hernández only spoke Spanish and rarely attended school. The film shows his Second Grade teacher Miss Young (Michelle Krusiec) visiting his home and talking to his parents about the importance of settling in one place so their kids could have a good education. The scene is reportedly real as Jose indeed got a visit from his teacher.
Notably, Jose Hernandez's childhood dream was to become an astronaut, however, while he was just a kid he had spent his time on farms with his family, then he worked from 1990 to 2004 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. It is pertinent to mention here that Jose was rejected by NASA 11 times before his dream actually came true.
Talking about Jose's educational qualification, in 1984 he earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific. Two years later, he earned a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Notably, Jose's request to become an astronaut was finally accepted by NASA on his 12th attempt. In 2004, Jose was finally accepted at the age of 42. The film shows him keeping every rejection letter, but the director doesn’t actually believe he kept them. To bulk up his application, he became a certified scuba diver, obtained his pilot’s license, and learned to speak Russian. On August 29, 2009, Jose's dream to touch the stars finally came true as he traveled for 14 days as a crew member on the shuttle Discovery, which transported seven tons of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station.
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Where is Jose Hernandez now?
As per US media reports, Jose Hernández is currently living in Stockton, California. Jose runs an aerospace consulting firm he co-founded, Tierra Luna. As the film shows, the former NASA Astronaut still picks grapes with his father, however, this time on their vineyard, where they make and sell their own line of wines, Tierra Luna Cellars.
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