Amazon is about to stream movie about Manteca man who rose from farmworker to astronaut

John Holland
·3 min read
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A film is set to debut about Jose Hernandez of Manteca, a one-time farmworker who fulfilled his dream of flying into space.

“A Million Miles Away” will stream on Amazon Prime Video starting Sept. 15. Michael Pena plays the adult Hernandez, who went on to become an aerospace consultant.

The movie recounts how a 10-year-old Hernandez was first inspired by a 1972 telecast of the Apollo 17 moonwalk. At the time, he was helping his Mexico-born parents pick crops up and down the Central Valley.

A year ago, Hernandez talked about the film project with The Modesto Bee. “The message there is that it’s OK to dream big as long as you’re willing to work hard and convert that dream into reality,” he said.

The interview took place during harvest at the vineyard Hernandez purchased in 2017. The farmworker had become a farm owner, helping oversee the fast-paced labor.

Actor Michael Peña is shown in the movie inspired by the real-life story of NASA flight engineer José Hernández, “A Million Miles Away.” It follows him and his devoted family of proud migrant farmworkers 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 Earth in the International Space Station.

Early work at Livermore lab

Hernandez earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. He then worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, researching X-rays as part of the missile defense system sought by President Ronald Reagan.

Hernandez started applying to the astronaut program in 1992. He kept being rejected, but the agency did hire him in 2001 as chief of the Materials and Processes Branch.

Hernandez finally became an astronaut in 2007, on his 11th try. He underwent two years of training, often away from his wife, Adela, and their five children.

Hernandez was part of a seven-member crew on Space Shuttle Discovery, in charge of computer systems. It delivered equipment, supplies and scientific experiments to the International Space Station.

Producer also made “McFarland USA”

Mark Ciardi is a producer on “A Million Miles Away.” He told The Bee last year that he was struck by his subject’s persistence.

“It’s every little kid’s dream, and Jose had it,” Ciardi said. “He had certainly a higher mountain to climb than most others.”

The producer’s other work includes “McFarland, USA,” the true story of a high school cross-country team in Kern County. He also made the sports-themed “Secretariat,” “Million Dollar Arm” and “The Rookie,” among others films.

“A Million Miles Away” was filmed in Mexico, which Hernandez visited often as a child, and at Central Valley farms and NASA locations. The young Hernandez is played by Juan Pablo Monterrubio, a child actor based in Mexico City. Rosa Salazar, star of “Alita: Battle Angel,” was cast as Hernandez’s wife.

The director is Alejandra Marquez Abella, whose credits include “The Good Girls” and “Semana Santa.”

Hernandez later ran for Congress

Hernandez left NASA in 2011. The next year, he was the Democratic nominee in the 10th Congressional District, losing to Jeff Denham.

Today, Hernandez is CEO at the consulting firm Tierra Luna Engineering, which is Spanish for “Earth moon.” He also launched the Reaching for the Stars Foundation, which promotes science education. Both are based in Stockton.

The 20-acre vineyard grows Burger grapes for Hernandez’s own small label and for blending into Korbel sparkling wine in Sonoma County.