SpaceVision 26

Dr. Franklin Chang-Díaz is Chairman and CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company, a US Delaware Corporation domiciled in Webster, Texas developing the VASIMR® rocket engine, a high-power in-space propulsion technology based on high temperature plasma. Ad Astra also owns and operates a subsidiary in Guanacaste, Costa Rica focusing on green hydrogen for energy storage and fuel-cell electric power for transportation and stationary applications.

A former NASA astronaut, Dr. Chang-Díaz is a veteran of 7 space missions and has logged over 1,600 hours in space, including 19 hours in three space walks.

Dr. Chang-Díaz initiated the VASIMR® rocket engine project in 1980. Throughout his 25-year NASA career, in conjunction with astronaut duties and training, he and his team at the Johnson Space Center’s Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory (ASPL) developed the controlling physics of the VASIMR®. In 2005 Dr. Chang-Díaz retired from NASA and founded the Ad Astra Rocket Company to complete the development of the VASIMR® and commercialize the technology through the private sector.

In his corporate experience, he also served for 12 years on the Board of Directors of Cummins Inc. (NYSE-CMI), a global power leader headquartered in Columbus, Indiana.

Dr. Chang-Díaz received a PhD degree in applied plasma physics from MIT and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut. He holds six US Patents including four key patents on the technology of the VASIMR® engine.

A four-time recipient of NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal, the agency’s highest honor, Dr. Chang-Díaz was inducted in the US Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 4, 2012. He holds honorary doctorates from several universities in the United States and Latin America and has continued to serve in academia as an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Rice University and the University of Houston.

He is married to the former Peggy Marguerite Stafford of Alexandria LA and the father of four daughters.