A Million Miles Away

José's family leaves Michoacán to work as migrant laborers in California, chasing the harvest season and a better life. He attends school while helping his family in the fields, showing early signs of his potential. Ms. Young, his teacher, visits the family to express concern that constant moving is disrupting his studies, which leads the family to decide to stay in California full-time.

Years later, José graduates from the University of the Pacific and lands a job as an engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He excels there and becomes a leader, eventually instructing researchers who had previously ignored him. This marks the start of his long career in science in California.

To fit in at work, José trades his customized 1963 Chevrolet Impala for a used Mazda RX-7. While signing the paperwork, he meets Adela and begins a courtship that eventually leads to marriage. Their relationship becomes the anchor of his family as he advances in his career.

José and Adela marry and start a family, eventually having five children. He continues to excel at the lab and becomes a mentor to younger researchers while remaining deeply involved in his children's lives. The family remains rooted in California as José's career advances.

During a class, José's supervisor offers him a chance to join a team going to Russia to evaluate a shipment of enriched uranium for NASA. This opportunity signals a path toward space program participation. He also pursues NASA applications directly, personally delivering his 12th application to Frederick Sturckow, which leads to his acceptance into the program.

José struggles to keep pace with his classmates as training intensifies. The setback is amplified by the death of his cousin Beto, which tests his resolve. Mentors like Sturckow push him to persevere, and Kalpana Chawla explains the deeper meaning of their work and reveals she has been chosen as Mission Specialist for STS-107.

José and his fellow trainees are shaken when news of Space Shuttle Columbia's disintegration during re-entry reaches them while they watch the return. The tragedy deepens his commitment to the mission and he resolves to push through the difficulty, continuing to excel in his training.

In 2008, José is chosen to join STS-128 as a Mission Specialist, marking his move from trainee to spaceflight crew member. He shares the news with Adela at her restaurant, and the family watches the press conference with pride. He then enters quarantine in preparation for the mission.

During quarantine, José's former teacher Ms. Young visits and reveals she has waited over 30 years for this moment, having believed in his enormous potential all along. Her presence ties his future flight to the roots of his migrant upbringing.

The shuttle launches with José aboard, and during main engine cutoff he looks around the cabin and imagines the monarch butterfly that landed on his father's arm, a symbolic moment that suggests he has achieved his destiny. The moment blends his family’s migrant history with spaceflight.

STS-128 remains on the International Space Station for 13 days, during which José contributes as a Mission Specialist. He experiences life in space while maintaining a connection to his roots back on Earth and his family’s agricultural legacy.

Closing notes celebrate José as the first migrant farmworker in space. He returns to Earth and continues to support Tierra Luna Cellars in Lodi, California, illustrating how his journey fused farming roots with a career in space exploration.