Look forward to working together: Astronaut Raja Chari's message on India at 75

Indian American astronaut Raja Chari, who recently returned home after a six-month mission at the International Space Station, congratulated India on 75 years of Independence and said that Nasa and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has a long cooperation and that he looks forward to working together with India.

“Nasa and Isro have a long history of cooperation, going back to early days of space age when Nasa worked with Isro on sounding rockets in India. The cooperation continues today as we work on joint space and Earth science missions,” astronaut Raja said.

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He further added that Nasa is also sharing communication resources to enable Isro missions that work on Mars and Moon. “We look forward in the near future to the first human spaceflight mission to be launched by Isro and to working and cooperating as Nasa took to return to Moon as part of Artemis mission,” he added.

NASA Astronaut Raja Chari
@Astro_Raja wishes on #Indiaat75. Thank you for your wonderful greetings @AmritMahotsav @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @DDNewslive pic.twitter.com/iykjsxcYgN — India in USA (@IndianEmbassyUS) August 13, 2022

The astronaut further said, “Congratulations, and all of India should be proud on this historic anniversary.”

A US Air Force test pilot, Raja Chari was selected to be an astronaut by Nasa in 2017. Born in Milwaukee, he is a colonel in the US Air Force and accumulated more than 2,500 hours of flight time in his career. Raja Chari's father Srinivas Chari left for the US from Hyderabad at a young age for an engineering degree.

Astronaut Chari arrived at the Space Station in November 2021 as part of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission. During his stay in zero gravity, he contributed to several experiments and technology demonstrations. His team worked on a variety of plant growth experiments, testing new systems for growing crops and studying potentially drought-resistant cotton plants. The crew was also involved in four spacewalks.

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His message comes just a day after astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, living and working on the Space Station, sent a message to the country. She said that for decades international agencies have worked together with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on many space and science missions.

“The cooperation continues today as Isro works on the development of the upcoming NISAR Earth Science Mission that will help us track disasters and helps us get a better understanding of our changing climate.”