NASA Astronaut Raja Chari

Raja Chari was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. He most recently served as the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 66 and 67.

Quick Facts

Chari has accumulated more than 2,500 hours of flight time in the 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.

The Iowa native graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1999 with a Bachelor’s Degree in astronautical engineering and engineering science. He continued on to earn a Master’s Degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At the time of his selection in June 2017, Chari was a Colonel select in the U.S. Air Force, serving as the Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force.

(20 April 2021) NASA astronaut Raja Chari poses for an official portrait.

NASA astronaut candidate Raja Chari climbs into a NASA T-38 aircraft, Friday, July 12, 2019 at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas. (Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

(9 February 2022) From left, NASA’s Expedition 66 Flight Engineers Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Mark Vande Hei pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module.

(25 March 2022) View of Raja Chari (EVA) 2 wearing red-striped Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) during EVA Number 80.

(19 February 2022) NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Raja Chari tests using tools while wearing a spacesuit glove inside the International Space Station’s U.S. Quest airlock.

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Biography

Raja Chari

Learn more about astronaut Raja Chari, including his flight experience, hobbies, education, background and more.

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NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-3 Commander Raja Chari is pictured in his spacesuit during a training session at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorns, California.

(30 August 2021) NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-3 Commander Raja Chari is pictured in his spacesuit during a training session at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorns, California. (Credit: SpaceX)