Costa Rica News – Costa Rica’s Franklin Chang Diaz is known for his seven trips out of Earth and his portrait hanging in the NASA Hall of Fame but his dream didn’t end there.
He now awaits his plasma engine’s trip to Mars.
In a laboratory in Houston and another in Liberia, Chang’s team is working on the plasma engine that will be used for future space explorations, including a manned trip to Mars.
As the Founder and CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company, the schedule is to conduct uninterrupted, sustained and longer firing tests at its Webster, Texas headquarters, followed by a full-power, 100-hour test in 2018 as part of its NextSTEP VASIMR® development partnership with NASA.
Chang, age 67, is recognized as the first Central American astronaut to fly into space. He also is one of the people with the most time spent in space, 66 days 18 hours and 16 minutes.
His mother worries every time he leaves his home planet but that worry is replaced with pride.
Chang’s message to young people is that time runs and never stops, so use it well. Move, don’t spend too much time thinking and letting time pass.
Start moving and settle along the way.
