Joe Acaba was selected as an astronaut in 2004. Before he became an astornaut, he worked as a hydro-geologist in Los Angeles, California, primarily on Superfund sites. He spent two years in the United States Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Awareness Promoter in the Dominican Republic. He was also the manager of the Caribbean Marine Research Center at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas. He also taught one year of high school science at Melbourne High School, Florida, and four years of middle school math and science at Dunnellon Middle School, Florida.
As an astronaut, Acaba has logged a total of 306 days in space on three flights, first as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119 mission and twice aboard the International Space Station.
In this image, Acaba reads to students from aboard the International Space Station during Expedition 53/54 (September 13 through February 28, 2018).
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Image Credit: NASA