The character arc of Franklin Chang-Díaz
Born 5 April 1950 in San José, Costa Rica. Between then and now sit a boyhood dream of space in a country with no space programme, an arrival in the United States as a teenager with almost no English and almost no money, a degree and a doctorate earned by working, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut, seven flights to orbit, and a rocket company built to reach Mars. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Franklin Chang-Díaz?
He arrived with no English, and aimed past the sky.
The story starts with a boy in San José, Costa Rica, following the news of Sputnik and deciding he would one day travel to space himself. It was an improbable thing to want. Costa Rica had no space programme, and the family had little money. As a teenager he left for the United States with almost nothing, arrived in Hartford, Connecticut speaking almost no English, and went back into high school to learn the language before he could really begin.
What he did next he did by working. He put himself through the University of Connecticut for a degree in mechanical engineering, then through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a doctorate in plasma physics, and became a United States citizen along the way. In 1980 NASA chose him for astronaut training, and on 12 January 1986 he became the first Hispanic American to fly in space. He would go on to fly seven times in all, tying the record for the most spaceflights by any astronaut.
He could have stopped there. Instead, in 2005, he left NASA at the height of his standing to build the engine he had been thinking about since MIT: a plasma rocket, VASIMR, meant to carry people to Mars far faster than chemical rockets can. He founded Ad Astra Rocket Company to make it real, and as of 2026 he still leads it. His line is worth reading because the dream a poor boy in San José was told was impossible is the same one he is still building toward.
The moments
Franklin Chang-Díaz's timeline.
The 1950s
A boy dreams of space
Everyday, and it changed his direction. Seven years old in San José, watching news of the first satellite, and deciding he would be a space traveller.
The 1960s
Finished school in Costa Rica
Milestone. He completed his schooling at home, then set his sights on a country that actually flew rockets.
Arrived with little English
Setback, and it changed his direction. He reached Hartford, Connecticut with almost no English and almost no money, and enrolled in high school again to learn the language.
The 1970s
An engineering degree earned
Milestone. He put himself through college in a second language, in a subject built on precision.
A doctorate in plasma physics
Milestone, and it changed his direction. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he took the physics that would shape the rest of his life.
Became a United States citizen
Milestone. The teenager who had arrived with almost nothing was now a citizen of the country he had come to.
The 1980s
Chosen as an astronaut
Milestone, and it changed his direction. NASA selected him for training, the answer to a wish he had held since he was a child.
First Hispanic American in space
Milestone, and it changed everything. Aboard Columbia, the boy from San José became the first Hispanic American to reach orbit.
The fleet grounded
Setback, and it changed his direction. Ten days after he landed, Challenger was lost. The shuttles did not fly again for over two years, and his next flight had to wait.
The 1990s
Opened a propulsion lab
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He set up a laboratory to develop the plasma rocket he believed could one day carry people to Mars.
The 2000s
A seventh flight, record tied
Milestone. His seventh spaceflight tied the record for the most flights by any astronaut.
Keep flying, or build the engine
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave NASA to build VASIMR, taken, or stay an astronaut. He founded Ad Astra Rocket Company that year, and as of 2026 still leads it, with VASIMR still in development toward a journey to Mars.
Founded a rocket company
Milestone, and it changed everything. He left NASA at the top to build his engine himself, founding Ad Astra Rocket Company to carry VASIMR toward Mars.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What a boy in San José set moving is not finished: the plasma engine is still being built, and the journey it is meant for is still ahead.
In his words
Quotes by Franklin Chang-Díaz
I was captivated by Sputnik as a child. I felt that, someday, humans would travel to distant planets, and I decided that I wanted to be one of those travelers, I would be a space explorer.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
His is seven decades in and still aimed at Mars. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- The NASA biography of Franklin R. Chang-Díaz.
- The Space Shuttle mission records, STS-61-C (1986) to STS-111 (2002).
- PBS NOVA, Rocket Scientist.
- Ad Astra Rocket Company.
- Britannica, Franklin Chang-Díaz.