List of Puerto Ricans in the United States Space Program

This is a list of notable Puerto Rican scientists involved in the United States Space Program, also known as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and their contributions to said program. This list is not limited to Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico, it also includes people of Puerto Rican descent born elsewhere. According to an article written by Margarita Santori Lopez for the official newspaper of the University of Puerto Rico's Mayagüez Campus, "Prensa RUM", as of 2003, of the 114 Hispanics working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, 70 were Puerto Ricans or of Puerto Rican descent.^[1]

Puerto Ricans and people of Puerto Rican descent, both men and women, have reached top positions in NASA, serving in sensitive leadership positions. On May 6, 2004, Joseph M. Acaba became the first person of Puerto Rican heritage to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Training Group 19.^[2] On an average, only the top 4% of the qualified applicants are selected as finalists, and are invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston for interviews for a position in the Astronaut Candidate Class. Out of the finalist group, an average of only 0.63% are selected to become an Astronaut Candidate.^[3] Other notable individuals who have reached finalist status include: Nitza Margarita Cintron, Astronaut Class 8 (1978),^[4] Carlos Ortiz Longo, Astronaut Class 16 (1996).,^[5] Enectalí Figueroa-Feliciano, Astronaut Class 19 (2004) and Class 20 (2009),^[6] and Vanessa Aponte Williams, Astronaut Class 20 (2009) and Class 21 (2012).