'Was a Great Ride': Astronaut Raja Chari Back From International Space Station

Raja Chari was in space for nearly six months, commanding the SpaceX Crew-3 mission.

Raja Chari. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@Astro_Raja)

Indian American astronaut Raja Chari splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, 6 May, after completing his scientific missions in the International Space Station (ISS).

"Glad to be back, thanks for letting us take care of Endurance. It was a great ride and looking forward to many more rides of the Endurance craft," he said, as reported by India Today.

Chari had been in space for nearly six months, commanding the SpaceX Crew-3 mission along with NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and European Space Agency's Matthias Maurer.

After completing his first spacewalk recently, in a tweet on 25 March, he had written: “Great spacewalks on @Space_Station that reminded me how important the human connection is between operators, trainers, and the ground team. Lucky to have @NASA_Johnson instructors that prepped us to deal with problems since no mission is ever perfect.”

Who is Raja Chari?

The commander of SpaceX Crew-3 mission to space, Raja Chari joined NASA in 2017.

While Chari was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his father, Srinivas Chari, immigrated to the US from Hyderabad for an engineering degree.

He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and US Naval Test Pilot School, and has over 2,000 flying hours. He is a colonel in the United States Air Force.

In December 2020, he was even selected on 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."

During his illustrious career, Chari has been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal, and the Air Force Commendation Medal, among others. The full list can be found on NASA's website.

And now, with more than 2,000 flying hours, Chari is all set to return.

"Space Station managers continue to plan for the departure of four commercial crew astronauts aboard the International Space Station this week. A change of command is also on tap as the 11 orbital residents transition to a seven-member crew before the end of the week," NASA said in a blog update.