Early Life and Education

Franklin Chang-Díaz was born in 1950 in Costa Rica. There, he became fascinated with space, setting out to become an astronaut. After graduating from high school in Costa Rica, Chang-Díaz immigrated to the United States, where he had to redo high school due to the language barrier before attending the University of Connecticut for engineering on a full scholarship. He came to the U.S. without knowing any English, learning it by complete immersion in school.

After earning his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Chang-Díaz earned his PhD in Plasma Physics from MIT.

Astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz

In 1977, Chang-Díaz was chosen to become an astronaut, going on to participate in seven Space Shuttle missions. Throughout his 25 years at NASA, a constant question he was asked was whether he was an astronaut or a scientist. Chang-Díaz fought to be seen as both- he was one of the first astronauts to fly in space without a military background.

NASA credits him as being “instrumental” in bringing the scientific community closer to the astronaut corps, forming and directing multiple groups throughout his time.

Chang-Díaz logged more than 1,601 hours in space, including 19 hours and 31 minutes in three spacewalks.

Back to Earth

Chang-Díaz retired from space travel in July 2005. From there, he went on to found Ad Astra Rocket Company, dedicated to developing advanced plasma rocket propulsion technology- which he believes with revolutionize the industry to give space missions a reasonable time frame and round-trip capabilities for satellites.

Today, Chang-Díaz has four children and is an active environment advocate. He enjoys hiking, scuba diving, and music, and looks forward to a future where humanity can enjoy those activities outside of Earth.

“I think people—young people—here in Costa Rica, and maybe in other places as well, can relate to my story because I wasn’t privileged. I didn’t have any advantages, other than a wonderful set of parents and a wonderful infrastructure of people who helped. I didn’t come into the world as a rich person. I didn’t have special connections. I wasn’t even born in the right country.

So if I can do it, anybody can. I think that message is sent loud and clear by this story. Opportunities are not given only to a privileged person. Just a regular guy, a regular kid who was able to dream, was able to pursue it.”