'It's pretty surreal': Milwaukee-born astronaut, Raja Chari, shares stories of space at public museum

NOW: ’It’s pretty surreal’: Milwaukee-born astronaut, Raja Chari, shares stories of space at public museum
NEXT:

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee-born astronaut is training to go to the moon.

As NASA works on the Artemis mission, all of their astronauts are in training for a lunar landing, and a few will be selected as the mission gets closer.

One of those astronauts is Raja Chari, who was born in Milwaukee and grew up in Iowa.

Chari began his career as an Air Force pilot. He's still active duty, now serving with NASA.

The astronaut visited the Milwaukee Public Museum on Thursday to host an evening lecture, which sold out.

"Honestly, I wanted to be an astronaut really young, and then went away from it and came back to it," Chari said.

To his surprise, Chari's dream came true.

He began serving with NASA in 2017, and in 2021, Chari went to the International Space Station as the commander of SpaceX Crew 3.

During those 176 days outside of Earth, Chari completed two spacewalks.

"When you come out of the Space Station on a spacewalk, you are pitching down towards the Earth, so you see the Earth actually moving and getting bigger. It can generate this overwhelming feeling of, basically, I'm falling towards the Earth," Chari explained. "I would do it again in a heartbeat though. It was amazing."

Chari might be able to go to space again, as the NASA team trains for the Artemis mission to the moon.

"It is pretty surreal to think about. You're in meetings and events like, 'oh yeah, I could be crewed with you, we could be flying around the moon in a few years,'" Chari said of his colleagues.

Eventually, an official Artemis crew will be selected.

The historic mission will bring the first woman and person of color to the lunar surface.

"I think it is pretty representative of America, so we're all excited," Chari said.

As training continues, Chari is taking an opportunity to visit his home states of Wisconsin and Iowa to tell his story.

"It's coming back to the place that made my wife and I who we are and made us able to do the things we do," Chari said.

He stressed that it's his Midwest values and resiliency that have helped him in his career.

Chari likes to speak to young people about being an astronaut, as he believes their generation will help us get to Mars.

"Do what you are passionate about doing," Chari said.

Each time a mission takes off, Chari wants us to remember the importance of space exploration.

It's a way to study our climate, our resources, and beyond.

"I want to go to the moon, that'd be awesome, but it's more about what it does for humanity," Chari said.

The unmanned launch of Artemis I is set for Nov. 14, 2022. Artemis II will have a crew and will likely launch in 2024.

Click here to learn more about Raja Chari.

Share this article: