Raja Chari is an American test pilot and an astronaut at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As of 2021, he is ranked as a colonel of the United States Air Force (USAF). Raja Chari is of Indian descent.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Raja John Voorputhoor Chari was born on Friday, June 24, 1977 (age 45 years; as in 2022), in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was raised in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. His zodiac sign is Cancer. In 1995, he completed his schooling at Columbus High School, Waterloo, Iowa, USA. In 1999, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering and Engineering Science (minor in Mathematics) at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. , In 2001, he completed a Master of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a Draper Fellow. Following graduation, he received graduate pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He also participated in F-15E Strike Eagle training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 10″
Weight (Approx): 75 kg
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Black
Family
parents and siblings
His father, Srinivas V Chari, was born in Telangana and worked as an engineer in the US. His mother, Peggy, is an American nurse and teacher. He has a younger brother named Krishna Chari.
Raja Chari with his family
wife and children
King is married to Holly Schefter Chari, and the couple have three children. Talking about his wife in an interview, Raja said,
She kept our family going, kept me going and basically the entire squadron and the entire unit and then also doing her job day in and day out for the VA. He is an amazing part of my life. Obviously, it was the best decision I ever made and I was lucky to have her.”
Raja Chari with his brother, mother, father and wife (left to right).
Religion
In an interview, King shared that he was raised as a Catholic and also followed Hindu traditions. He said,
From a religious perspective, I was raised Catholic. A lot of credit goes to my father for not making me feel that I was different from anyone else. I think they did a great job saying that this is completely normal. When I was growing up, it took me a while to realize that my father wasn’t Catholic either. He was a Hindu. Never practiced it. Never baptized in the church. He always went to (church) with us. We always lived like a family… My father never got rid of his Hindu roots. It wasn’t until I grew up that I realized that he was not Catholic and that the church we attended growing up was not the church he had grown up in.
livelihood
In November 2003, he was selected as an F-15E pilot in the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Pacific Air Forces. In 2006, he was assigned as an F-15E IP to the 494FS, RAF Lakenheath, England, UK, followed by the US Naval Test Pilot School, Maryland (as an Air Force Exchange Officer) in 2007. . In December 2008, he joined the United States. Air Force (USAF) as an F-15 experimental test pilot, 40 FTS, Eglin AFB. In December 2012, he joined the USAF as a SAF/RCO program manager and in June 2015, he was assigned to the position of 461st Flight Test Squadron Commander/F-35 Integrated Test Force Director. In June 2017, he joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as an astronaut candidate.
Raja Chari with other NASA astronauts
He then served as the Joint Test Team Director in the Commercial Crew Program in 2019, and in June 2020 he began serving as the titled SpaceX Crew 3 mission commander. She was selected as a part of the Artemis Team, a group of astronauts, in December 2020. The team was formed to send the first woman and next man to the lunar mission that will walk on the lunar surface in 2024. In the same year, he was selected from NASA’s astronaut group ‘Group 22’ for the space mission ‘SpaceX Crew-3’, held on November 11, 2021. He took command of the mission and was accompanied by United’s Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn. The States of Germany and Matthias Maurer.
Raja Chari with SpaceX Crew-3 team
medal
While he was in the United States Air Force, he received various medals including:
- Defense Meritorious Service Medal
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Air Force Commendation Medal
- Air Force Achievement Medal
- Korean Defense Service Medal
- Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal
Facts/General Knowledge
- Raja Chari’s nickname is Grinder.
- He was interested in aircraft since childhood. Talking about this in an interview he said,
I got it in my head that I really wanted to fly a plane… my goal through high school was essentially to go to the Air Force Academy. To accomplish that goal of flight. I became more educated about the idea of becoming a test pilot and that you can do both. I loved being a test pilot. It’s everything I thought it would be. I get to live my passion and do what I love to do. Once I became a test pilot, for the first time I thought – holy cow – becoming an astronaut was within the realm of possible. It’s not really something that’s just a lofty goal, but something that I can try to achieve. That’s when I started meeting people associated with NASA.
- Talking about King’s love of airplanes during his childhood, his mother said,
When he was about 9 or 10 he took some curtain hooks that I wasn’t using and bent them into different shapes… He would take them to sell to the neighborhood kids and tell them They are different types of aircraft. Other kids would always buy them and then they would all play together.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn