Who is Raja Chari, the Indian-American astronaut picked by NASA for its 2024 Moon mission?

Raja Chari (Image: @Astro_Raja/Twitter)

Indian-American Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari is among the 18 astronauts selected for NASA's next manned mission to the moon.

The 43-year-old is the only Indian-American astronaut on the Artemis programme, which will send a diverse team of astronauts to the moon in 2024.

He is also a US Air Force officer, and a pilot with 2,000 hours of flying time.

Chari grew up Cedar Falls, Iowa, and is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and US Naval Test Pilot School.

Also Read: Indian-American among 18 astronauts selected for NASA's manned Moon mission

According to a PTI report, he was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. Chari reported for duty in August 2017 and having completed the initial astronaut candidate training.

"Proud to be a small part of the huge NASA team working to get humans to the moon to stay. We need explorers, engineers, and dreamers to get Artemis there," Chari said in a tweet.

NASA Aeronautics shared a video on Twitter where Chari speaks about his life and journey towards becoming an astronaut.

"If I ask my mom, she definitely has memories of me as a child talking about being an astronaut. I always knew I wanted to do something related to aviation. But at the same time I think I also started to tell myself it wasn't really possible because it was just something they'll get let down from," he said in the video.

Pilot with 2,000 hours of flight time
@USAirForce officer
NASA Astronaut

Meet @Astro_Raja, an initial member of our @NASAArtemis team who will help pave the way for the next human missions on and around the Moon. pic.twitter.com/bc6ctjUL5H

— NASA Aeronautics (@NASAaero) December 10, 2020