Franklin Chang-Díaz

Franklin Chang-Díaz is a Costa Rican-American physicist and former NASA astronaut who flew on seven Space Shuttle missions and developed plasma-propulsion research, including the VASIMR concept.

NASA Astronaut Corps: NASA's group of astronauts selected and trained to conduct spaceflight and related missions. Chang-Díaz joined the corps in 1980 and flew on seven Shuttle missions.
VASIMR: The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, an electric propulsion concept that heats and accelerates plasma using radio waves and magnetic fields. Chang-Díaz originated this variable-thrust plasma propulsion concept.
Space Shuttle: NASA's reusable crewed spacecraft system that carried astronauts and cargo to low Earth orbit from 1981 to 2011. All seven of Chang-Díaz's spaceflights used this spacecraft system.
San José: The capital and largest city of Costa Rica, located in the country's Central Valley. Chang-Díaz was born in this Costa Rican city in 1950.
NASA: The United States federal agency responsible for civilian space exploration and aeronautics research. NASA selected Chang-Díaz as an astronaut and supported his spaceflight career.
Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster: An electric rocket engine that accelerates plasma through electromagnetic forces produced by electric current and magnetic fields. It is another electromagnetic plasma-thrust approach that clarifies VASIMR's broader propulsion family.
STS-61-C: A 1986 Space Shuttle Columbia mission that deployed a communications satellite and conducted scientific experiments. It was Chang-Díaz's first spaceflight.
University of Connecticut: A public research university whose main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. Chang-Díaz earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering there.
Costa Rica: A Central American country bordered by Nicaragua and Panama, with coastlines on the Pacific and Caribbean. Chang-Díaz was born in San José and became a prominent Costa Rican-born astronaut.
Hall-effect thruster: An electric propulsion device that uses crossed electric and magnetic fields to accelerate ions. Its established ion acceleration method differs from VASIMR's radio-frequency plasma heating.

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Gladys WestRelated: His career offers another example of a Black American scientist whose work became widely recognized later in life.