The story of the first Hispanic astronaut to travel to space, José Hernández Moreno, has just been turned into a movie and stars Michael Peña ("Ant-Man," "Narcos: México," and "Million Dollar Baby").
On September 15, Amazon Prime Video premiered the movie "A Million Miles Away," a biopic that tells the story of José Hernández Moreno's life. Born to Mexican parents, the flight engineer became the first Hispanic astronaut to travel to space in 2009. He was a mission specialist on the STS-128 mission on board NASA's space shuttle Discovery, which orbited space for 14 days.
Based on the novel written by the astronaut himself
The movie is based on the autobiography "Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut." The book focuses on his story, family and everything he went through to become the first Hispanic astronaut to travel to space.
The movie focuses on the most intimate moments that José Hernández Moreno experienced as well as all the preparation he had to go through to become an astronaut, as stated in the movie's synopsis:
Inspired by the real-life story of NASA flight engineer José Hernández, A Million Miles Away follows him and his devoted family of proud migrant farm workers on a decades-long journey, from a rural village in Michoacán, Mexico, to the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, to more than 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station. With the unwavering support of his hard-working parents, relatives and teachers, José’s unrelenting drive & determination culminates in the opportunity to achieve his seemingly impossible goal.
The cast began filming in August 2022. The movie is directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella. It stars Michael Peña as José Hernández Moreno and Rosa Salazar as José Hernández Moreno's wife, Adela Hernández. Garret Dillahunt, Sarayu Blue and Isabel Aerenlund play NASA astronauts Frederick W. Sturckow, Kalpana Chawla and Nicole Stott, respectively.
