A familiar Peace Corps slogan asks “How far will you go?”

In becoming the first returned Peace Corps Volunteer and person of Puerto Rican heritage to serve as an astronaut, Joseph Michael Acaba has definitely shown he’s willing to go beyond the norm.

Acaba was named as a NASA astronaut candidate in May 2004.  Nearly five years later, in March 2009, he performed a spacewalk as mission specialist educator aboard Space Shuttle Discovery’s STS-119. His mission successfully delivered the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and truss element to the International Space Station.

Acaba said in a January interview with NASA that he found a lot parallels between his work as an astronaut and his Peace Corps service.  “It really applies a lot with what I’m doing now with the International Space Station and that huge international endeavor we have going on there.”

Acaba received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Arizona, respectively.  He was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserves for six years and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in education in the Dominican Republic (1994-96). 

Due to limited seating, only the first 25 responses will be able to attend. You will receive a confirmation email if you have been selected to attend this event. Please bring a government-issued ID and the confirmation email with you. The event begins at 10:00 a.m., but all attendees must be seated by 9:45.