Born to a family of migrant farmworkers, Jose Hernandez spent his childhood picking crops and moving from town to town across California, not learning to speak English until he was 12 — and dreaming of being an astronaut. Jose would go on to earn a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California. While working at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Jose applied 11 times over three years and was turned down each time — until being selected for training in 2004, and making his trip to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-128 in 2009. A Million Miles Away stars Michael Pena as Jose in the true story of his journey to space.