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Franklin Chang Díaz

American - (NASA)

Retired

Date of Birth: April 5, 1950
Age: 74


Franklin Ramón Chang Díaz is a Costa Rican Chinese American mechanical engineer, physicist, former NASA astronaut. He is the founder and current CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company as well as a member of Cummins' board of directors. He became an American citizen in 1977. He is of Chinese (paternal side) and Costa Rican Spanish (maternal side) descent. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, tieing the record, as of 2018 for the most spaceflights (a record set by Jerry L. Ross). He was the third Latin American, but the first Latin American immigrant NASA Astronaut selected to go into space. Chang Díaz is a member of the NASA Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-61-C

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 12, 1986, 11:55 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-61-C was the twenty-fourth mission of the shuttle program and the seventh of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission included the second African-American shuttle pilot, future NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the first Costa Rican born astronaut and the second sitting politican to fly in space: Bill Nelson.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-34

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Oct. 18, 1989, 4:53 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-34 was the thirty-first shuttle mission and the fifth for Atlantis. It deployed the Jupiter-bound Galileo probe.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-46

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
July 31, 1992, 1:56 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-46 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using Space Shuttle Atlantis and was launched on 31 July 1992 at 9:56:48 am EDT.

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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-60

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Feb. 3, 1994, 12:10 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-60 was the first mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried Sergei K. Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a Space Shuttle. The mission used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from Launch Pad 39A on 3 February 1994 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission carried the Wake Shield Facility experiment and a SPACEHAB module into orbit, and carried out a live bi-directional audio and downlink link-up with the cosmonauts aboard the Russian space station Mir.

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Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-75

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Feb. 22, 1996, 8:18 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-75 was a United States NASA Space Shuttle mission, the 19th mission of the Columbia orbiter.

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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-91

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
June 2, 1998, 10:06 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-91 was the final Space Shuttle mission to the Mir space station. It was flown by Space Shuttle Discovery, and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 2 June 1998.

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Space Shuttle Endeavour / OV-105 | STS-111

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
June 5, 2002, 9:22 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-111 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. STS-111 resupplied the station and replaced the Expedition 4 crew with the Expedition 5 crew. It was launched on 5 June 2002, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

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Administrator: Bill Nelson

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 14 hours ago
Starlink Group 6-66
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
2 days, 18 hours ago
Progress MS-29 (90P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Starship
Success
4 days, 8 hours ago
Integrated Flight Test 6
Orbital Launch Mount A - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

Sixth test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 12 hours ago
GSAT-20 (GSAT-N2)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

GSAT-20 is an Indian geostationary Ka-band high-throughput communications satellite. GSAT 20 is reportedly built on the I-6K unified modular bus a…


Falcon 9
Success
6 days ago
Starlink Group 9-12
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 20 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.