Franklin Chang Diaz is putting Costa Rica on the map for operations geared towards developing renewable energy sources through plasma in the race for space.

The most famous and celebrated astronaut, who originally came from Costa Rica, is petitioning the United States congress to put in a more concerted effort with its intentions toward the frontier of space. Franklin Chang Diaz may have a minor celebrity status in the States, but he is a formidable star in Costa Rica. With a record setting seven times in space and three space walks, Diaz has engendered the pride of Costa Rican peoples for a long time presently. He and his company AD Astra intend to put renewable energy and plasma technology into use with the NASA space programs.

While Asia and Europe are pushing forward well-resourced and enthusiastic space ventures, the United States is cutting expenditures on space programs with more frequency than previous years. As of 2014, the White House cut more than 200 million dollars in funds to NASA programs, and more funds are expected to be taken from aging space organization in 2015. Franklin Diaz and his 250 some investors in AD Astra, who are mostly based in Costa Rica, are looking for solutions to the space race in inexpensive and economically solvent fashions.

The state-owned institutions of Banco National and Banco Credito de Agricola centered in Cartago have pledged a total of $2, 250,000 in funds to the Ad Astra Company. Franklin Diaz, who is now a US citizen, recently gave a speech on the programs initiatives at the Costa Rican Embassy in Washington D.C. He urged the positive benefits of building an organization that could make space travel both affordable and economically rewarding.

If the US fails to put forth the funding for developing rockets based in plasma technology, the Chinese have shown great interest in procuring their development. A plasma propulsion engine uses electric propulsion to generate thrust from a somewhat neutral plasma. The VASIMR, or Variable Specific Impulse Rocket, that is being developed by Franklin Chang Diaz and the AD Astra team based in Liberia, Costa Rica, could potentially cut the costs of space travel by a sizeable margin. This could potentially affect the maintenance of the ISS (International Space Station), and the prospect of mining nearby planets for valuable resources that are being depleted here on planet Earth.

The AD Astra organization currently takes in revenue from the development of hydrogen based fuel cells that are to be used in land based transportation. The company could be taking on more investors in the future as the VASIMR technology progresses in its development.

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