Franklin Chang-Diaz: First Latino Inducted To The Astronaut Hall of Fame

This weekend, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inducted retired NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz -- the first Latino inductee.

"I receive this honor with a great deal of humility because it is given to me by those who were always my heroes," said Chang-Diaz to collectSpace.com.

"To be recognized by those who you admire is even more powerful than to be just recognized at all."

Born in San Jose, Costa Rica, Chang-Diaz is the first Latin-American to go into space, a trip he has made seven times. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a doctorate in Applied Plasma Physics in 1977.

Chang-Diaz was inducted alongside fellow astronauts Kevin Chilton and Charles Precourt.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Eddie Martinez]

09:05 AM on 05/09/2012

I had the pleasure of meeting Franklin Chang-Diaz inLos Angeles in the '70s - a wonderful warm person - Contrats Chang-Diaz, you reached for the the stars & you made it!

[archanjo]

12:57 PM on 05/08/2012

Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez of Cuba left the warm Caribbean for the desolate cold of near-earth orbit on 18 September 1980. Tamayo launched as a crewmember aboard the Soviet space programme's Soyuz 38 for an eight-day visit to the Salyut 6 space station. He was the second non-Warsaw Pact and the second "third world" cosmonaut. His mission package included growing organic monocrystals in space using Cuban sugar. Tamayo's commander on the Soyuz 38 flight was Yuri Romanenko.

The United States Census uses the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race." The term is also used in Spain as a term of self-identification for immigrants from Hispanoamerica.

So does this not make Mendez the first latino in Space??? :-)

http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/tamayo-mendez_arnaldo.htm

[Gabo99]

12:06 AM on 06/14/2012

The award is not for the first Latino in space... The award is for lifetime achievement, and therefore, he is the first Latino in the hall of fame, sir.

[arecibo48]

10:41 AM on 05/08/2012

Congratulations Mr. Chang-Diaz.

[researcher1000]

09:02 AM on 05/08/2012

Very proud! This is the type of individuals our country needs.

[billygoat21]

05:14 PM on 05/09/2012

I completely agree!!! Let's all just fly around in space from now on!!!!!!!!