Science Is the Antidote to Poverty

Halting global warming should be the top priority of the scientific community, because the calamities the process causes will change our way of life, warns Costa Rican astronaut Franklin Chang.

SAN JOSE - "The countries of Latin America should invest more in research," because development is only possible when education is the priority, said Costa Rica's Franklin Chang, 52, the first Latin American astronaut of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in an exclusive Tierramérica interview.

Like many in the region, Chang emigrated to the United States when he was 18 and did not speak English, but he pursued his dream of becoming an astronaut. In the United States, he completed a degree in engineering and a doctorate in physics.

In 1980 he entered NASA, where he accumulated more than 1,600 hours in space, in seven special missions, the last being on the shuttle Endeavor. From 1983 to 1993 he headed the plasma propulsion program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, seeking to develop that technology for future trips to Mars. In 1993 he was named director of NASA's Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory, where he continues his research.

Chang maintains contact with his country and with Latin America, and backs research for diseases affecting millions of people in the region, such as Chagas disease. He believes education is the means through which people can achieve their dreams, and that is what he stresses at conferences and talks he gives to students and schoolchildren each time he visits Costa Rica, where he is received as a national hero.


Tierramérica: What environmental problem do you think should be the top priority for the international scientific community?

Chang: The warming of the atmosphere, because it brings with it many other disasters that could change the way people live on our planet. To counteract these problems requires a change in the lifestyles and customs of our peoples. That is why it is very important that we explain to children, beginning when they are very young, so that they start being aware of the importance of protecting the environment.

Do you share what some describe as the ecologists' apocalyptic view of the planet's future?

I have a less apocalyptic viewpoint than other scientists. I am more optimistic about the capacities of the planet to survive. But yes, we must raise awareness about the problems.

How can science be utilized in fighting poverty in Latin America?

We must educate the population and the government must work with greater determination. We have to spend more on research.

What can be done to close the technological gap between rich and poor countries?

The gap will begin to close with reciprocal visits between scientists, with cultural exchanges and with exchanges between young people from developing countries and developed countries.

What is the status of the research that you have been supporting, from your position at NASA, to find a cure for Chagas disease, which affects 20 million people in Latin America?

The Chagas Project involves NASA and several Latin American institutions. What we have done is take medicinal materials that exist in our tropical forests and take them to outer space to try to find potential cure for the diseases that affect us. In the case of Chagas disease, we have conducted tests in space with certain compounds to crystallize them and study their molecular structure.

What is your biggest concern in regards to the future of humanity?

To ensure the survival of the human race, of our civilization. And I believe that is the fundamental objective of the space program.

If there were a scientific mystery you could solve, what would it be?

The existence of life beyond Earth. I believe that it exists, but we haven't found it. That discovery would totally change the outlook of human beings.

* Néfer Muñoz is an IPS correspondent.