Washington: The US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced the names of 18 astronauts selected for the ambitious lunar mission. These include Raja John Voorputur Chari, an American citizen of Indian origin.
NASA has named its campaign Artemis. Chari will be the third Indian-American to go into space after Kalpana Chawla in 1997 and Sunita Williams in 2006. In 2017, when NASA announced its Artemis campaign, they were selected from 18,000 applicants.
Chari’s family hails from Telangana
Chari’s family hails from Telangana. His father Srinivas Chari is from Mahbubnagar district who moved to the US after completing his education from Osmania University in Hyderabad. She married Peggy Egbert while pursuing higher studies in the US in the 1950s. Fact is that he realized his dream of pursuing higher studies in America and inspired Raja Chari to dream big.
2,000 hours of flying experience in the Air Force
Chari, 43, has been a colonel in the US Air Force. He has also commanded the Advanced Fighter Jet F-35 fleet. He has over 2,000 hours of flying experience in the US Air Force. Chari is excited to be selected to be a part of the mission. He tweeted “Man is proud to be a small part of a big team going to the moon.”
US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday announced the names of 18 members selected for the Artemis expedition at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He said that “I give you the heroes who will take us to the moon and beyond” NASA named the mission the Artemis Moon mission which will land on the moon in 2024. 9 female astronauts have also been selected in this.
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