Raja Chari

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Raja Chari
NASA astronaut
RankBrigadier General, USAF
Time in space
176d 2h 39m
SelectionNASA Group 22 (2017)
Total EVAs
2
Total EVA time
13h 48m
MissionsSpaceX Crew-3 (Expedition 66/67)
Mission insignia

Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari (born June 24, 1977)[1] is an American test pilot and NASA astronaut.[2] He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, and has over 2,000 flying hours. He is a brigadier general in the United States Air Force.

Early life and education

Chari was born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Peggy Egbert and Sreenivas V. Chari from India.[3][4]
He was raised in
engineering science, with a minor in mathematics. Following his graduation, Chari attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge as a Draper Fellow, earning a Master of Science
in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 2001.

Air Force career

Following completion of his graduate studies, Chari attended

Edwards AFB, California.[5][6]

In January 2023, Chari was nominated for promotion to brigadier general.[7]

NASA career

In June 2017, Chari was selected for NASA Astronaut Group 22, and reported for duty in August to begin two years of training as an astronaut.[8][9]

In December 2020, Chari was selected as part of the Artemis Team, a group of astronauts "to help pave the way for the next lunar missions including sending the first woman and next man to walk on the lunar surface in 2024."[10] The same month, he became the first astronaut from Group 22 to be selected for a space mission, SpaceX Crew-3, which he commanded.[11] Chari is the first NASA rookie to command a spaceflight since Joe Engle, who commanded the STS-2 mission in 1981.

On March 23, 2022, Chari and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer exited the Quest Joint Airlock on the ISS to perform an EVA. However, Maurer's helmet camera became loose, delaying the start of the activities by an hour. Chari ultimately secured it using wire, and the spacewalk was completed successfully.[12]

Personal life

Chari is married to Holly Schaffter Chari, also a Cedar Falls native, and the couple have three children.[8]

Awards and honors

During his Air Force career, Chari was awarded the

Eagle Scout, and was a distinguished graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy and Undergraduate Pilot Training.[8][13]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Mark Garcia. Astronaut Raja Chari.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
. Retrieved July 6, 2021. (Official NASA biography).

  1. ^ "Raja Chari NASA Astronaut". spacefacts.de. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  2. ^ "SpaceX Crew-3 mission to help test space tech: Raja Chari". The Times of India. October 28, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  3. ^ "Sreenivas V. "Shari" Chari (1942-2010)". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. April 8, 2010.
  4. ^ Daniel, Vaihayasi Pande (August 16, 2017). "The next Indian astronaut". Rediff.com.
  5. ^ Timperlake, Edward; Laird, Robin (March 24, 2016). "Lieutenant Colonel Raja Chari Talks About the Way Ahead with the F-35: The Renorming of Airpower Seen from Edwards". F-35 Global News. Second Line of Defense. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  6. ^ "Outgoing 461st FLTS commander selected for astronaut training". 412th Test Wing Public Affairs. June 7, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  7. ^ "PN196 - 27 nominees for Air Force, | Congress.gov | Library of Congress".
  8. ^ a b c Garcia, Mark (February 7, 2018). "Astronaut Candidate Raja Chari". NASA. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  9. CBS Broadcasting
    . Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "NASA The Artemis Team". NASA. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  11. ^ Potter, Sean (December 14, 2020). "NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Spacewalking astronauts restore radiator, replace space station camera after wardrobe malfunction". Space.com. March 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Swartz, Clay (June 9, 2017). "Meet Eagle Scout Raja Chari, one of NASA's newest astronauts". Bryan on Scouting. Scouting Magazine. Retrieved September 14, 2018.

11. Srivastava, Namrata (May 30, 2021). "NASA’s space mission Commander has Telangana roots" . Telangana Today. Retrieved January 15, 2022.


External links

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