Joseph M. Acaba United States Marine Corps Reserves, PERSONAL DATA: Born in 1967 in Inglewood, California and raised in Anaheim, California where his parents Ralph and Elsie still reside. Enjoys outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, and scuba diving. Also enjoys reading, especially science fiction.
EDUCATION:
Esperanza High School, Anaheim, California, 1985
B.S., Geology, University of California-Santa Barbara, 1990
M.S., Geology, University of Arizona, 1992
ORGANIZATIONS: International Technology Education Association and Florida Association of Science Teachers.
EXPERIENCE: United States Marine Corps, Reserves. Worked as a hydro-geologist in Los Angeles, California. Primarily worked on Superfund sites and was involved the assessment and remediation of groundwater contaminants. Spent 2 years in the United States Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Awareness Promoter in the Dominican Republic. Manager of the Caribbean Marine Research Center at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas. One year of high school science teaching experience at Melbourne High School, Florida and four years of middle school math and science teaching experience at Dunnellon Middle School, Florida.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as a Mission Specialist by NASA in May 2004. In February 2006 he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Upon completion of his training, Acaba was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the Space Station Branch working technical issues with European Space Agency (ESA) hardware.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-119 Discovery (March 15-28, 2009) was the 125th Shuttle flight, the 36th flight of Discovery and the 28th Shuttle flight to the International Space Station. The primary objective of this flight was to deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and truss element to the International Space Station. The mission also delivered and returned with an expedition crew member. Acaba accumulated 12 hours and 57 minutes of EVA in 2 spacewalks. STS-119 returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, having traveled 202 orbits and 5.3 million statute miles in 12 days 19 hours and 29 minutes.
