Franklin Chang-Díaz | |
|---|---|
 Chang-Díaz in 1997 | |
| Born | Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz (1950-04-05)April 5, 1950 (age 75) San José, Costa Rica |
| Education | University of Connecticut (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS,ScD) |
| Children | Sonia |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 66d 18h 16m |
| Selection | NASA Group 9 (1980) |
| Missions | STS-61-C STS-34 STS-46 STS-60 STS-75 STS-91 STS-111 |
Mission insignia |        |
Franklin Ramon Chang-Díaz (born April 5, 1950,San José, Costa Rica)[1] is a Costa Rican-Americanmechanical engineer, physicist, and former NASA astronaut. He is the sole founder and CEO ofAd Astra Rocket Company[2] as well as a member of theCummins' board of directors.[3] He became an American citizen in 1977.[4]
He is a veteran of sevenSpace Shuttle missions, tying the record, as of 2021 for the mostspaceflights (a record settwo months earlier byJerry L. Ross). He was the thirdLatin American, and the first Latin American immigrant NASA astronaut selected to go into space.[5] Chang-Díaz is a member of NASA'sAstronaut Hall of Fame.
Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz was born inSan José, Costa Rica on April 5, 1950, to Ramón Ángel Chang Morales, an oil worker whose own father fled from China during theBoxer Rebellion,[6] and María Eugenia Díaz. One of six children, he has a younger sister, Sonia Rosa (born December 1952) and his mother, brothers and sisters still reside in Costa Rica.[7] His two eldest daughters with his ex-wife Candice Chang, includeSonia Rosa, who is a member of theMassachusetts Senate.[8][9] He married Dr. Peggy Marguerite Doncaster (née Stafford, ofAlexandria, Louisiana), in the United States, on December 17, 1984. They have two daughters,[10] both born inHouston,Texas.[11][12][13][7]
He graduated from Colegio de La Salle in San Jose with an "A" grade in November 1967, then moved to the United States to finish hishigh school education atHartford Public High School in Connecticut, in 1969.[7] He went on to attend theUniversity of Connecticut, where he earned aB.S. degree inmechanical engineering and joined the federalTRIO Student Support Services program in 1973.[14] He then attended theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned aPh.D. degree in appliedplasma physics in 1977.[14] For his graduate research atMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Chang-Díaz worked in the field offusion technology and plasma-basedrocket propulsion.[4] Post-graduation fromMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1979, Chang-Díaz was responsible for developing a novel technique that used an inertial fusion reactor chamber to accurately align fuel pellets to collide with one another in order to create a fusion event.[15][16]
Chang-Díaz was selected as an astronaut candidate byNASA in 1980, and first flew aboard Space Shuttle missionSTS-61-C in 1986. Subsequent missions includedSTS-34 (1989),STS-46 (1992),STS-60 (1994),STS-75 (1996),STS-91 (1998), andSTS-111 (2002). During STS-111, he performed threeextravehicular activities (EVAs) withPhilippe Perrin as part of the construction of theInternational Space Station (ISS). He was also director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at theJohnson Space Center from 1993 to 2005. Chang-Díaz retired from NASA in 2005.[4]
After leaving NASA, Chang-Díaz set up theAd Astra Rocket Company, which became dedicated to the development of advancedplasma rocketpropulsion technology. Years of research and development have produced theVariable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), an electrical propulsion device for use in space.[17] With a flexible mode of operation, the rocket can achieve very high exhaust speeds, and with a sufficiently powerful electrical supply even has the theoretical capability to take a crewed rocket to Mars in 39 days.[18]
Chang-Díaz also is active inenvironmental protection and raisingawareness about climate change, notably in his role inOdyssey 2050 The Movie in which he encourages young people to get motivated about environmental issues.[19]
In addition, he is an adjunct professor in physics and astronomy atRice University.[20] He has been on the board of directors of Cummins since December 8, 2009.[21]
He is also the father of Democratic candidate for the2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial electionSonia Chang-Díaz.
In 1986, Franklin Chang-Díaz was one of twelve recipients of theMedal of Liberty. He was inducted into the NASAAstronaut Hall of Fame on May 5, 2012[22] in a ceremony that took place in theKennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Also, due to his career and scientific success, he has been decorated multiple times in Costa Rica and named Honor Citizen by thenational legislature.[7] The Costa Rican National High Technology Center (CeNAT), among other institutions, is named after him.[23] In 2014, Chang-Díaz was awarded the "Buzz Aldrin Quadrennial Space Award" byThe Explorers Club. Buzz Aldrin, whom Chang-Díaz called a childhood hero, presented the award.[24]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link),Wired Science, November 14, 2007
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