Brig. Gen. Raja J. Chari serves as an Active Astronaut, Assistant to the Chief for Artemis Human Landing System and Senior Department of Defense Astronaut, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. He is responsible for leading astronaut development and testing for HLS which is the lunar lander for the Artemis campaign. His work includes integrating the design and testing with the Orion deep space crew capsule, exploration class lunar space suits and the Gateway lunar space station. His duties include work across several NASA Centers and oversight of multiple U.S. and international contractors. He also maintains training currency to be prepared for future space flight assignments to the International Space Station.
Brig. Gen. Chari was commissioned from the U.S. Air Force Academy and has served on active duty for over 25 years in a variety of educational, operational, developmental test, program management and command positions. After earning his Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he served as an Instructor Pilot in the F-15E including deployed experience in the Pacific and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He graduated U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and served as an F-15 Developmental Test Pilot. Following U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, he
was a program manager in the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office. As a Squadron Commander, he led the 461st Flight Test Squadron and was the Integrated Test Force Director leading a joint multinational team responsible for developmental flight testing of the F-35 Lightning II. After completing Astronaut Candidate training, Brig. Gen. Chari was the Director of the Joint Test Team for the Commercial Crew Program leading system testing for the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner.
Brig. Gen. Chari is an Astronaut Command Pilot with over 7,000 flying hours in a variety of spacecraft and aircraft. Prior to his current position, Brig. Gen. Chari was the Crew-3 Commander for the first flight of the Endurance space vehicle and spent nearly six months aboard the International Space Station where he took part in over 350 scientific studies and executed two spacewalks.
EDUCATION
1999 Bachelor of Science, Astronautical Engineering, Engineering Sciences, Mathematics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.
2001 Master of Science, Astronautics and Aeronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
2006 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2008 U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.
2012 U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
2013 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2019 Astronaut Candidate Training, Johnson Space Center, Texas
ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1999–June 2001, Draper Fellow/Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
2. June 2001–August 2002, Student, Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance Air Force Base, Okla.
3. August 2002–February 2003, Student, Intro to Fighter Fundamentals, 435th Flying Training Squadron, Moody AFB, Ga.
4. February 2003–October 2003, Student, F-15E Fighter Training Unit, 334th Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.
5. October 2003–September 2006, F-15E Instructor Pilot, Executive Officer, FS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
6. September 2006–October 2007, F-15E Evaluator Pilot, Chief of Standardization/Evaluation, 494th FS, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom
7. October 2007–December 2008, Student, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Class 134, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.
8. December 2008–December 2011, Developmental Test Pilot, 40th Flight Test Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla.
9. December 2011–December 2012, Student, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
10. December 2012–June 2015, Production Program Manager, Strategic Combat Systems, Secretary of the Air Force, Rapid Capabilities Office, Bolling AFB, Washington D.C.
11. June 2015–June 2017, 461st Flight Test Squadron Commander and Director, F-35 Integrated Test Force, F-35 Test Pilot, Edwards AFB, Calif.
12. June 2017–October 2019, Astronaut Candidate, NASA Astronaut Class XXII, Johnson Space Center, Texas
13. October 2019–December 2020, Commercial Crew Program Joint Test Team Director, Johnson Space Center, Texas
14. December 2020–October 2021, Commander NASA/SpaceX Crew-3 Mission Pre-Flight, International Space Station Expedition 66 & 67, Johnson Space Center, Texas
15. October 2021–May 2022, Commander NASA/SpaceX Crew-3 Mission, International Space Station Expedition 66 and 67, Low Earth Orbit
16. May 2022–November 2022, Commander NASA/SpaceX Crew-3 Mission Post-Flight, International Space Station Expedition 66 and 67, Johnson Space Center, Texas
17. November 2022–present, Assistant to the Chief for Artemis Human Landing System Program, Johnson Space Center, Texas
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: astronaut command pilot
Spacecraft flight hours: more than 4,200
Aircraft flight hours: more than 2,800 including more than 160 combat hours
Vehicles flown: Crew Dragon, International Space Station, F-35, F-15, F-16, F-18, T-38, and 23 other aircraft.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Superior Service Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Aerial Achievement Medal with silver oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air and Space Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Iraq Campaign Medal
Korean Defense Service Medal
NASA Distinguished Service Medal
NASA Space Exploration Medal
(Current as of September 2024)