NASA’s space mission Commander has Telangana roots
Raja Chari, a man with Telugu roots, is gearing up to SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to ISS scheduled in October this year
Hyderabad: While most of us have nursed childhood dreams of reaching up to the stars, a lucky few go on to make those dreams a reality. One such person is Raja Jon Vurputoor ‘Grinder’ Chari, a man with Telugu roots who is gearing up to be the Commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to the International Space Station scheduled to launch in October this year.
An Indian-American who grew up in Cedar Falls in Iowa in the United States, Chari’s father Sreenivas V Chari hailed from Hyderabad. His mother Peggy, a nurse and later a teacher, is American. Even as a child, Chari dreamed of flying into space. “Every child dreams of becoming an astronaut at some point. As a kid, the more sci-fi movies I watched, the more I wanted to be in the space,” shares Chari in an exclusive chat with Telangana Today.
Though becoming an astronaut was never a definitive goal, Chari says he always wanted to be an aircraft pilot. “During my undergraduate years, I made my mind that I wanted to be a pilot. Through high school, my goal was essentially getting into the Air Force Academy. I joined the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado,” he adds.
Raja Chari along with wife Holly Schaffter Chari and children.
From flying, Chari eventually moved to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his Master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics. At the time of his selection in NASA as a test pilot in June 2017, Chari was a Colonel select in the US Air Force, serving as the Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force. He had accumulated more than 2,500 hours of flight time on F-35, F-15, F-16, and F-18 including F-15E combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and deployments in support of the Korean peninsula.
Thrilled to be commanding the SpaceX Crew 3 Mission to the ISS, Chari says his responsibilities will be more like that of a sports team coach. “There are several very accomplished team members in the SpaceX Crew 3 mission. So, I believe my role will be similar to that of a coach. A coach doesn’t have to teach the player how to play, they already know that. He just has to find the best way to place each player to make sure the team wins. And that’s what I will be doing,” he says.
Chari is also the first to graduate from NASA’s Artemis programme, making him eligible for assignments to future lunar missions. Under the programme, NASA wants to send the next man and first woman to the Moon by 2024.
“I am a member of the team, and right now we are working on the Orion crew capsule. We are testing various aspects of the capsule,” shares Chari, adding that though the final team to go to the moon is yet to be decided, he is thrilled to be part of the team. “It is a childhood dream that I am living, so I am super excited. I am really looking forward to be on the ISS, and later on the moon. There are many scientific experiments that can be performed at these places which will benefit the human society,” he feels.
Raja during his visit to Hyderabad.
Hyderabad connection
Raja’s father, Sreenivas Chari, who had an engineering degree from Osmania University, moved to America with the determination to succeed. “He sacrificed a lot for his family. I have many relatives in the US, and most of them credit my father for helping them build a life in the States. As a child I couldn’t understand this, but now I believe that had my father not moved here, I wouldn’t be what I am,” he says, adding that unfortunately, his father passed away in 2010.
Raja’s grandfather, a native of Mahabubnagar, was a Mathematics professor at Osmania University, and died very early in 1955. “My father was brought up by two very feisty ladies, his mother and aunt. And we still have high regards for them,” he says.
Raja has visited Hyderabad thrice, where many of his close relatives live. “I went there as a teenager and remember going to the Tank Bund. That was one of the most memorable summer vacations I ever had — I played a lot with my cousins, ate some delicious food and even tried to learn some Telugu, which unfortunately I don’t remember now,” he shares with a laugh. Chari, who currently lives in Houston, is married to Holly Schaffter Chari, also a Cedar Falls native. The couple has three children.
Raja Chari with his father Sreenivas Chari and mother Peggy Chari.
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