Raja Chari

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Raja Chari is an American test pilot and an astronaut at The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His ancestors have their roots in Telangana, India.He was brought up in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States.Raja was inclined towards aeroplanes since childhood. In an interview, while remembering his childhood days, he said, I got it in my head that I really wanted to fly an aircraft… Through high school, my goal was essentially getting in the Air Force Academy. To accomplish that goal of flying. I became more educated about the idea of being a test pilot and that you can do both of those things. I loved being a test pilot. It is everything I thought it would be. I get to live my passions and do what I love doing. Once I became a test pilot that’s the first time it struck me — holy cow — becoming an astronaut is in the realm of the possible. It is actually not something that is just a lofty goal, but something that I can try to achieve. That’s when I started to meet people associated with NASA.”.During an interview, his mother talked about Raja’s inclination towards aircraft childhood. She said, When he was about 9 or 10 he took some drapery hooks I wasn’t using and bent them into different shapes… He would take them out to sell to the kids in the neighbourhood telling them they were different types of planes. The other kids always bought them and then they’d all play together.”.He joined Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Pacific Air Forces in November 2003.He attended F-15E Strike Eagle training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.He then joined 494FS, RAF Lakenheath, England, UK as F-15E IP in 2006, and in 2007, he did his training at the US Naval Test Pilot School.He worked as F-15 Experimental Test Pilot, 40 FTS, Eglin AFB at The United States Air Force (USAF) in December 2008.After three years, he joined USAF as SAF/RCO Program Manager, and he was appointed as the Title 461st Flight Test Squadron Commander/F-35 Integrated Test Force Director in June 2015.He worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as an astronaut in June 2017. Raja Chari with other NASA’s astronauts.