Netflix Film To Tell Inspiring Story of First Mexican-American Astronaut

Vanessa Hernandez is using social media platforms to tell the world the story of his father, who is the first Mexican-American astronaut to go from working in the fields to being launched into outer space.

Hernandez said that something that she really admires about her father is the fearlessness to achieve what you want to do, as reported by We Are Mitu.

On Aug. 28, 2009, Jose Hernandez became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) first-generation Mexican-American and the first migrant farmworker astronaut in space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on Space Shuttle mission STS-128.

Jose Hernandez only achieved his coveted journey to space after being rejected from NASA 11 times. Hernandez said that it was not until the 12th time that he was finally asked to be part of the NASA astronauts.

"I always tell Vanessa and the kids that you can't give up on your dream. I know I wanted to give up after six times of being rejected and my wife was the one that actually convinced me not to, because she said, 'you're always going to have that worm of curiosity inside of you wondering what if you didn't quit? NASA is not telling you don't apply, you're just quitting. And I started thinking about it and I said, you know, she's right," Jose said in a report.

Jose said that he knew he could be the first Latino astronaut in space. He said that he got excited because it is not just for the white Caucasians anymore.

He noted that NASA is letting people of color into the ranks of the agency. With this in mind, he said that maybe he could pave a way to make it even easier for other people.

Costa Rican Chang Diaz was Jose's inspiration for his dreams of being in space too.

Jose immigrated from Mexico and was a migrant farmworker as a kid. He also picked tomatoes in a field near 8 Mile Road in Lodi.

Jose's father, one day in 1972, made sure his son watched the Apollo 17 mission, as reported by KCentv.

Jose's father taught him one important lesson. And that's to think about the difficulties of life in the fields compared to getting an education.

Netflix Film

Filmmaker Alejandro Márquez Abella would be the one to create the Netflix movie that will focus on the inspiring life story of Jose.

Abella is reportedly in final negotiations to direct the autobiography of Jose entitled "A Million Miles Away," as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Bettina Gilois wrote the script. She is known to have written McFarland, USA, and Bessie. Gilois passed away last July, and Hernán Jiménez revised the script for the Netflix biopic.

"A Million Miles Away" will be the first English feature for Abella.

Abella was also known for his 2018 feature, "The Good Girls," which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Abella earned 14 nominations and four wins from the Ariel Academy Awards feature, which is Mexico's equivalent of the Oscars.

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