Many children dream of going to the moon and stars during their childhood but only a few are lucky to realise them. Raja Chari is one of such lucky persons whose dream came true.

Raja Chari, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 24, 1977, attended Columbus High School. His father Srineevas V. Chari is from Hyderabad. Now, Raju Chari is all set to command NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission. His mother Peggy Egbert was a nurse who became a teacher later on.

Raja Chari had dreamt of going to space since his childhood. However, during his undergraduate, he thought of becoming a pilot and joined American Air Force Academy in Colorado.

He received a fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied his master’s degree in astronautics and aeronautics. He was selected as a Colonial in American Air Force at the time of his selection in NASA. He has experience in flying various warplanes for 2500 hours.

🎙️ Introducing the crew of NASA's @SpaceX Crew-3 mission launching to the @space_station this fall:

Raja Chari, commander
Tom Marshburn, pilot
Kayla Barron, mission specialist
Matthias Maurer, mission specialisthttps://t.co/6pVIbda5PU pic.twitter.com/T4chEquzpB
— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) May 19, 2021

Raja Chari expressed happiness for being selected for the space mission.

“My responsibility shall be akin to a sports coach. There are many talented members of the team. So my role will not be to teach them rather explain them,” Chari said