Carlos I. Noriega

Carlos I. Noriega, Peruvian-American colonel and astronaut

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Born: October 8, 1959
Age in 2026: 67
Zodiac sign: Libra
Birth year: 1959

About Carlos I. Noriega

Carlos Ismael Noriega Jiménez is a Peruvian-American NASA employee, a former NASA astronaut and a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. Carlos became the first born Peruvian astronaut that went to space. Carlos was born in Lima, Peru and moved to Santa Clara, California in early childhood. During STS-84, Noriega logged approximately a total of 239 hours and 20 minutes in space traveling 3.6 million miles in 144 orbits of the Earth. Mission duration was 10 days, 19 hours, 57 minutes, and traveled 4.5 million miles.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Carlos I. Noriega was born

Carlos I. Noriega was born in 1959. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1959

#1 song"Mack the Knife" – Bobby Darin
Top movieBen-Hur
Top TV showGunsmoke
Best-selling bookGoldfinger – Ian Fleming

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentIngemar Johansson knocks out Floyd Patterson for heavyweight title
Top headlineAlaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th US states
Technology milestoneMicrochip (integrated circuit) invented
Defining fadBarbie dolls
Notable inventionBarbie doll
World population2.98 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
Sports championLos Angeles Dodgers (World Series)
Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
U.S. population177.1M

1959 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Carlos I. Noriega's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1959	2026
Gas	$0.31	$3.45/gal
Average home	$12,400	$435,000
Average income	$7,000	$67,500
Minimum wage	$1.00	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.69	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.04	$0.73
Population	177.1M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Google Arts & Culture. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.