Indian American astronaut RG Chari joins NASA
Q. Which of the following are Indian American astronauts?- Published on 09 Jun 17a. Raja Grinder Chari
b. Sunita Williams
c. Kalpana Chawla
d. All of the above
ANSWER: Raja Grinder Chari
NASA on 7 June 2017 announced names of 12 new astronauts, including an Indian-American Lt Col Raja Grinder Chari.
They, the new astronauts, were chosen from a record number of over 18000 applicants. The new candidates include six military officers, three scientists, two medical doctors, a lead engineer at SpaceX and a NASA research pilot.
The seven men and five women comprise the 22nd class of American spaceflight trainees since 1959.
Raja Grinder Chari: Know More- Indian American Lt Col., US Air Force Raja Grinder Chari (39) is a commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
- He hails from Waterloo, Iowa who graduated from the US Air Force Academy with bachelor’s degrees aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
- The other 11 selected astronaut candidates include Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Robb Kulin, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, Loral O’ Hara and Jessica Watkins.
