Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz
NASA Astronaut
Status	retired
Born	April 5, 1950 (1950-04-05) (age 59) San José, Costa Rica
Other occupation	Physicist
Time in space	66d 18h 16m
Selection	1980 NASA Group
Missions	STS-61-C, STS-34, STS-46, STS-60, STS-75, STS-91, STS-111
Mission insignia

Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz (born April 5, 1950) is a Costa Rican-American engineer, physicist and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the record holder for most spaceflights (a record he shares with Jerry L. Ross). He was one of the first Hispanic or Latino Americans to go into space.^[1][2]

[edit] Education

Chang-Diaz was born in San José, Costa Rica to a father of Chinese descent and a Spanish Costa Rican mother, both Costa Rican-born^[3]. He studied at La Salle School, then moved to the United States to finish his high school education. He earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut (where he joined the federal TRIO Student Support Services program) in 1973, and a Sc.D. degree in applied plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977. For his graduate research at MIT, Chang-Diaz worked in the field of fusion technology and plasma-based rocket propulsion.^[1]

[edit] NASA career

Chang-Diaz was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980 and first flew aboard STS-61-C in 1986. Subsequent missions included STS-34 (1989), STS-46 (1992), STS-60 (1994), STS-75 (1996), STS-91 (1998), and STS-111 (2002). During STS-111, he performed three EVAs with Philippe Perrin as part of the construction of the International Space Station. He was also director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center from 1993 to 2005. Chang-Diaz retired from NASA in 2005.^[1]

[edit] Post-NASA career

Chang-Diaz is an adjunct professor of physics at Rice University and at the University of Houston. Since December 2009, he has been part of the Board of Directors for Cummins

He created the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) for spacecraft propulsion, which is currently in development by his company, Ad Astra Rocket Company.^[4] This rocket propulsion has the theoretical capabitlity to take a manned rocket to Mars in 39 days.^[5]

Due to his career and scientific success, he has been decorated multiple times in Costa Rica and named Honor Citizen by the national legislature. The Costa Rican National High Technology Center (CeNAT), among other institutions, is named after him.^[2]

Due to the traditional naming structure in Latin America (father's last name, then mother's last name) he is typically referred to as Franklin Chang.

One of his daughters, Sonia Chang-Díaz, is a member of the Massachusetts Senate, representing the second Suffolk district seat.^[6][7]

[edit] See also

• Space exploration

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ad Astra Rocket
• Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory
• Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnología Dr. Franklin Chang Díaz (CeNAT)
• NASA Biography
• Spacefacts biography of Franklin Chang-Diaz
• Home page of Franklin Chang-Diaz
• NOVA scienceNOW profile