Latino+essay+AJ

= = http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/22596537/ = = = Resources =
 * Scholastic - Latinos in History
 * FactMonster.com - Search under People and Biographies
 * [|Wikipedia] - search for Latinos in science, Latinos in technology, Hispanics in science, Hispanics in technology

Find your own additional facts about the people who are in the [|"Latinos in History"] section. You can also choose other Hispanic Americans about whom you would like to learn more and research these individuals on the Web and in books. ||  ||  ||
 * **Latinos in History **
 * Biography Skill Sheet **
 * =[[image:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Changdiaz.jpg/450px-Changdiaz.jpg width="89" height="113" caption="File:Changdiaz.jpg"]] picture of Franklin R. Chang-Diaz= ||  || **Name of History Maker ** ||
 * ^  |||| Franklin R. Chang-Díaz ||
 * Franklin R. Chang Diaz was born in April 5, 1950 (Wikipedia)
 * Franklin is about 64 or 65 years old (Wikipedia)
 * Franklin was raised by a poor family in Costa Rica (scholastic)
 * Chang Diaz was the first Hispanic to be in the space program (Wikipedia)
 * Chang Diaz was introducted in the NASA Hall of Fame in May 5, 1968 (Wikipedia)
 * Chang Diaz is a veteran in six space missions (scholastic)
 * he has spent nearly 1,500 hours in space during his space missions (scholastic)
 * He became an astronaut in 1981 (scholastic)
 * He married Peggy Marguerite in the United States on December 17, 1984 (Wikipedia)
 * his daughters are Lidia Aurora and Miranda Karina
 * Franklin was fascinated by science (video by NASA)
 * He wanted to be an explorer of space ( video by NASA)
 * he was on the spaceship Columbia (video by NASA)
 * his whole time in space is 66 days, 18 hours, and 16 minutes (Wikipedia)
 * he studied hard to become a scientist (scholastic)

Jorge Arroyo, 6A April 30, 2014 Spanish Essay Assignment

A Hispanic Scientist for a New Era

Science and Technology are leading the way to the future, and people all over the world are making important contributions that will improve our lives. One person who has been part of that wave of scientists is Franklin Chang-Diaz. He was born in Costa Rica on April 5, 1950 (Wikipedia). He grew up in a poor family with his mother and father his five siblings. Mr. Chang-Diaz was a one of six children and his younger brother and sisters still live in Costa Rica (Wikipedia). When he was little, he wanted to be a space explorer (video by NASA). He would have chairs sitting right side up and pretend to be in an actual space ship. He would pretend to be on a space mission, and he would have a cardboard box on his head as if it were a space helmet (video by NASA). That was the beginning of his dream, so he studied hard to become a scientist for space (Scholastic Magazine).

Family and education have always been important for Franklin Chang-Diaz. He is of Chinese decent (Wikipedia) His father worked as an oil worker and fled China because of the Boxer Rebellion (Wikipedia). His mother was a Costa Rican. What he liked to do most was to listen to music, play with glider planes, soccer, scuba diving and hiking. He went to the University of Connecticut where he got a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering (Wikipedia). Later on he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned a graduate degree in plasma physics in 1977 (Wikipedia). He married his girlfriend of many years, Peggy Marguerite, in the United State on December17, 1984 (Wikipedia). His daughters are Lidia Aurora and Miranda Karina (Wikipedia). Mr. Chang-Diaz realized one of his childhood dreams when he started working for NASA. Franklin Chang-Diaz was the one of the first Hispanics to be in the space program for NASA. He is a veteran astronaut who flew on seven space shuttle missions aboard the Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavor space shuttle (NASA Website). On one of his missions, he was on board the shuttle Columbia, and he spent in space a total of 66 days, 18 hours, and 16 minutes (Wikipedia). One of his shortest missions was launched January 12, 1986 and took only 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds. They traveled 2.5 million miles. On most of his missions, he had to launch satellites into orbit, install or repair video and still camera equipment for the purpose of monitoring space activity.

In July of 2005 Franklin Chang-Diaz concluded a successful 25 year career as a NASA astronaut, where he achieved a world record of seven space flights(Wikipedia). During this period, he invented VASIMR®, an innovative space propulsion system. Throughout his career, Franklin has upgraded the science and space technology in Latin America, aware of the great opportunities that exist in the region. In 1990, he served as leader of a group of space scientists that wanted regional integration and collaboration in space technology projects in Latin America. His efforts resulted in the organization of the First Space Conference of The Americas, sponsored by The United Nations and held in Costa Rica. Three similar conferences in Chile, Uruguay and Colombia are similar to this initiative. Two years later, Chang-Diaz helped to form The Chagas Space Project, a collaboration of 5 countries studying the Chagas disease in the microgravity of space. The project resulted in the first multinational flown experiment from Latin America in protein crystallization with medical applications, which he performed in two of his missions on the Space Shuttle. Franklin Chang-Diaz retired from NASA in 2007 (Wikipedia), and it was then that he founded Ad Astra Rocket Company, an advanced rocket technology company in North America, with operations in Webster, Texas and Guanacaste, Costa Rica (Wikipedia). He has also been the president of that company adding more milestones to an already great career in science. In the second half of his life, he has been active in Costa Rica, working on the implementation of The Strategy for the 21st Century. This is a plan designed to transform his mother land into a fully developed country before 2050. With his long list of achievements, there is no denying that Franklin Chang-Diaz will accomplish this and many more goals. He is truly a great Hispanic leader and role model to me and the Latin community in the United States.

=**Works Cited List**= "Celebrate Hispanic Heritage! Latinos in History." //Celebrate Hispanic Heritage! Latinos in History//. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014. []. "Franklin Chang Díaz." // Wikipedia //. Wikipedia Foundation, n.d. Web. . "Franklin Chang Díaz." // Biography of //. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014. . "Profile of Franklin Chang- DÃ­az." //YouTube//. YouTube, 19 May 2013. Web. 01 May 2014. .
 * It tells you a little info on the Hispanic you want to learn about.
 * Wikipedia is a valid source of information because they tell you where they got there information.
 * it is a good source of information because it gives you a bio of Franklin Chang Diaz and hi achivments.
 * Franklin Chang-Diaz himself says info about himself