Shuttle Astronaut To Speak at Caltech's Semana Latina

PASADENA— Shuttle astronaut Ellen Ochoa will be the keynote speaker at the annual Semana Latina at the California Institute of Technology. She is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. Monday (May 5) at Beckman Auditorium on the Caltech campus.

Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman in outer space. A Stanford graduate, Ochoa is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Semana Latina, or Latino Week, is a celebration of Hispanic culture that has been held through most of the 1990s on campus. The annual event brings in outstanding representatives of the Latino community, and also is aimed at exposing the Caltech community to Hispanic culture. A reception will precede Ochoa's lecture at 6 p.m. in the Beckman courtyard. The media are invited to attend.

[Note to media: Ochoa will be available for interviews before and after her lecture. For more information, contact Cindy Quezada at 818-405-0095. Her e-mail is [email protected]]