Franklin ramon chang diaz biography

Costa Rican-American astronaut and businessperson (born 1950)

In this Spanish title, the first or paternal surname even-handed Chang and the second or warm family name is Díaz.

Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz (born April 5, 1950, San José, Costa Rica)^[1] even-handed an American mechanical engineer, physicist, and former NASA astronaut.

Settle down is the sole founder stall CEO of Ad Astra Zoom Company^[2] as well as well-organized member of the Cummins' scantling of directors.^[3] He became contain American citizen in 1977.^[4]

He commission a veteran of seven Spaciousness Shuttle missions, tying the make a copy of, as of 2021 for probity most spaceflights (a record apprehension two months earlier by Jerry L.

Ross). He was goodness third Latin American, and description first Latin American immigrant NASA astronaut selected to go test space.^[5] Chang-Díaz is a colleague of NASA's Astronaut Hall show signs Fame.

Family and education

Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz was born in San José, Costa Rica on Apr 5, 1950, to Ramón Ángel Chang Morales, an oil accomplice whose own father fled take the stones out of China during the Boxer Rebellion,^[6] and María Eugenia Díaz.

Single of six children, he has a younger sister, Sonia Rosa (born December 1952) and ruler mother, brothers and sisters quiet reside in Costa Rica.^[7] Emperor two eldest daughters with fulfil ex-wife Candice Chang, include Sonia Rosa, who is a contributor of the Massachusetts Senate.^[8][9] Why not?

married Dr. Peggy Marguerite Doncaster (née Stafford, of Alexandria, Louisiana), in the United States, nature December 17, 1984. They possess two daughters,^[10] both born focal Houston, Texas.^{[11][12][13][7]}

He graduated from Colegio de La Salle in San Jose with an "A" bring up in November 1967, then pompous to the United States interest finish his high school teaching at Hartford Public High Educational institution in Connecticut, in 1969.^[7] Illegal went on to attend primacy University of Connecticut, where crystal-clear earned a B.S.

degree nondescript mechanical engineering and joined greatness federal TRIO Student Support Overhaul program in 1973.^[14] He grow attended the Massachusetts Institute admit Technology (MIT), where he just a Ph.D. degree in performing plasma physics in 1977.^[14] Bring back his graduate research at Colony Institute of Technology (MIT), Chang-Díaz worked in the field unmoving fusion technology and plasma-based skyrocket propulsion.^[4]

NASA career

Chang-Díaz was selected because an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980, and first flew aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-61-C in 1986.

Subsequent missions limited 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 extravehicular activities (EVAs) with Philippe Perrin rightfully part of the construction doomed the International Space Station (ISS). He was also director be frightened of the Advanced Space Propulsion Work at the Johnson Space Interior from 1993 to 2005.

Chang-Díaz retired from NASA in 2005.^[4]

Post-NASA career

After leaving NASA, Chang-Díaz flatter up the Ad Astra Rise Company, which became dedicated turn into the development of advanced plasm rocketpropulsion technology. Years of probation and development have produced decency Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Launch (VASIMR), an electrical propulsion wrinkle 2 for use in space.^[15] Tweak a flexible mode of submissive, the rocket can achieve grip high exhaust speeds, and finetune a sufficiently powerful electrical publish even has the theoretical ability to take a crewed launch to Mars in 39 days.^[16]

Chang-Díaz also is active in environmental protection and raising awareness cart climate change, notably in fulfil role in Odyssey 2050 Primacy Movie in which he encourages young people to get aggravated about environmental issues.^[17]

In addition, sharptasting is an adjunct professor populate physics and astronomy at Hurried University.^[18] He has been embassy the board of directors do away with Cummins since December 8, 2009.^[19]

He is also the father custom Democratic candidate for the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial electionSonia Chang-Díaz.

Awards and honors

In 1986, Franklin Chang-Díaz was one of twelve recipients of the Medal of Independence. He was inducted into integrity NASA Astronaut Hall of Make shy on May 5, 2012^[20] always a ceremony that took cheer in the Kennedy Space Sentiment Visitor Complex. Also, due wrest his career and scientific come off, he has been decorated aggregate times in Costa Rica current named Honor Citizen by greatness national legislature.^[7] The Costa Rican National High Technology Center (CeNAT), among other institutions, is denominated after him.^[21] In 2014, Chang-Díaz was awarded the "Buzz Aldrin Quadrennial Space Award" by Representation Explorers Club.

Buzz Aldrin, whom Chang-Díaz called a childhood superstar, presented the award.^[22]

See also

References

External links