
PERSONAL
DATA: Born
April 5, 1950, in San Josè, Costa Rica, to the late Mr. Ramòn
A. Chang-Morales and Mrs. Marìa Eugenia Dìaz De Chang.
Married to the former Peggy Marguerite Doncaster of Alexandria, Louisiana.
Four children. He enjoys music, glider planes, soccer, scuba-diving,
and hiking. His mother, brothers and sisters still reside in Costa Rica.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Colegio De La Salle in San Josè, Costa Rica, in
November 1967, and from Hartford High School in Hartford, Connecticut,
in 1969; received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering
from the University of Connecticut in 1973 and a doctorate in applied
plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
in 1977.
SPECIAL
HONORS: Recipient of the University of Connecticut's
Outstanding Alumni Award (1980); 6 NASA Space Flight Medals (1986, 1989,
1992, 1994, 1996, 1998); 2 NASA Distinguished Service Medals (1995,
1997), and 3 NASA Exceptional Service Medals (1988, 1990, 1993). In
1986, he received the Liberty Medal from President Ronald Reagan at
the Statue of Liberty Centennial Celebration in New York City, and in
1987 the Medal of Excellence from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
He received the Cross of the Venezuelan Air Force from President Jaime
Lusinchi during the 68th Anniversary of the Venezuelan Air Force in
Caracas, Venezuela (1988), and the Flight Achievement Award from the
American Astronautical Society (1989). Recipient of four Doctorates
"Honoris Causa" (Doctor of Science from the Universidad Nacional
de Costa Rica; Doctor of Science from the University of Connecticut,
Doctor of Law from Babson College, and Doctor of Science from the Universidade
de Santiago de Chile. He is Honorary faculty at the College of Engineering,
University of Costa Rica. In April 1995, the government of Costa Rica
confered on him the title of "Honorary Citizen." This is the
highest honor Costa Rica confers to a foreign citizen, making him the
first such honoree who was actually born there.
EXPERIENCE:
While attending the University of Connecticut, he also worked as a research
assistant in the Physics Department and participated in the design and
construction of high energy atomic collision experiments. Following
graduation in 1973, he entered graduate school at MIT, becoming heavily
involved in the United States' controlled fusion program and doing intensive
research in the design and operation of fusion reactors. He obtained
his doctorate in the field of applied plasma physics and fusion technology
and, in that same year, joined the technical staff of the Charles Stark
Draper Laboratory. His work at Draper was geared strongly toward the
design and integration of control systems for fusion reactor concepts
and experimental devices, in both inertial and magnetic confinement
fusion. In 1979, he developed a novel concept to guide and target fuel
pellets in an inertial fusion reactor chamber. More recently he has
been engaged in the design of a new concept in rocket propulsion based
on magnetically confined high temperature plasmas. As a visiting scientist
with the M.I.T. Plasma Fusion Center from October 1983 to December 1993,
he led the plasma propulsion program there to develop this technology
for future human missions to Mars. In December 1993, Dr. Chang-Dìaz
was appointed Director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at
the Johnson Space Center where he continues his research on plasma rockets.
He is an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Rice University and the University
of Houston and has presented numerous papers at technical conferences
and in scientific journals. In addition to his main fields of science
and engineering, he worked for 2-1/2 years as a house manager in an
experimental community residence for de-institutionalizing chronic mental
patients, and was heavily involved as an instructor/advisor with a rehabilitation
program for hispanic drug abusers in Massachusetts.
NASA
EXPERIENCE:
Selected by NASA in May 1980, Dr. Chang-Dìaz became an astronaut
in August 1981. While undergoing astronaut training he was also involved
in flight software checkout at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
(SAIL), and participated in the early Space Station design studies.
In late 1982 he was designated as support crew for the first Spacelab
mission and, in November 1983, served as on orbit capsule communicator
(CAPCOM) during that flight. From October 1984 to August 1985 he was
leader of the astronaut support team at the Kennedy Space Center. His
duties included astronaut support during the processing of the various
vehicles and payloads, as well as flight crew support during the final
phases of the launch countdown. He has logged over 1,800 hours of flight
time, including 1,500 hours in jet aircraft. Dr. Chang-Dìaz was
instrumental in implementing closer ties between the astronaut corps
and the scientific community. In January 1987, he started the Astronaut
Science Colloquium Program and later helped form the Astronaut Science
Support Group, which he directed until January 1989. A veteran of six
space flights (STS 61-C in 1986, STS-34 in 1989, STS-46 in 1992, STS-60
in 1994, STS-75 in 1996, and STS-91 in 1998), he has logged over 1,269
hours in space.
SPACE
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
STS 61-C (January 12-18, 1986), was launched from the Kennedy Space
Center, Florida, on the Space Shuttle Columbia. STS 61-C was a 6-day
flight during which Dr. Chang-Díaz participated in the deployment
of the SATCOM KU satellite, conducted experiments in astrophysics, and
operated the materials processing laboratory MSL-2. Following 96 orbits
of the Earth, Columbia and her crew made a successful night landing
at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Mission duration was 146 hours,
3 minutes, 51 seconds.
On STS-34 (October 18-23, 1989), the crew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis
successfully deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its journey to explore
Jupiter, operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument
(SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone, and performed numerous secondary experiments
involving radiation measurements, polymer morphology, lightning research,
microgravity effects on plants, and a student experiment on ice crystal
growth in space. STS-34 launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Mission duration was
119 hours and 41 minutes and was accomplished in 79 orbits of the Earth.
STS-46 (July 31-August 8, 1992), was an 8-day mission during which crew
members deployed the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) satellite,
and conducted the first Tethered Satellite System (TSS) test flight.
Mission duration was 191 hours, 16 minutes, 7 seconds. Space Shuttle
Atlantis and her crew launched and landed at the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, after completing 126 orbits of the Earth in 3.35 million miles.
STS-60 (February 3-11, 1994), was the first flight of the Wake Shield
Facility (WSF-1), the second flight of the Space Habitation Module-2
(Spacehab-2), and the first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle mission
on which a Russian Cosmonaut was a crew member. During the 8-day flight,
the crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery conducted a wide variety of
biological materials science, earth observation, and life science experiments.
STS-60 launched and landed at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission
achieved 130 orbits of Earth in 3,439,705 miles.
STS-75 (February 22 to March 9, 1996), was a 15-day mission with principal
payloads being the reflight of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS) and
the third flight of the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-3).
The TSS successfully demonstrated the ability of tethers to produce
electricity. The TSS experiment produced a wealth of new information
on the electrodynamics of tethers and plasma physics before the tether
broke at 19.7 km, just shy of the 20.7 km goal. The crew also worked
around the clock performing combustion experiments and research related
to USMP-3 microgravity investigations used to improve production of
medicines, metal alloys, and semiconductors. The mission was completed
in 252 orbits covering 6.5 million miles in 377 hours and 40 minutes.
STS-91 Discovery (June 2-12, 1998) was the 9th and final Shuttle-Mir
docking mission and marked the conclusion of the highly successful joint
U.S./Russian Phase I Program. The crew, including a Russian cosmonaut,
performed logistics and hardware resupply of the Mir during four docked
days. They also conducted the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment,
which involved the first of its kind research of antimatter in space.
Mission duration was 235 hours, 54 minutes.
NOVEMBER
1999