NASA has selected 18 astronauts to fly the moon as part of the Artemis mission in 2024. Among them is test pilot Raja Chari. This is his story...
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00:00Newton talks about, you know, standing on the shoulders of giants.
00:03Now I'm definitely not a giant, but if I can throw a little stepping stone out there, that would be my goal.
00:16I'm Raja Shari. I go by Grinder.
00:18I grew up in Iowa and went to the Air Force Academy and then MIT and then was an Air Force test pilot.
00:30For the Artemis mission, they're not just PowerPoint slides.
00:51They're actually metals being bent, shaped, formed to build the things that we're going to use.
00:56And as a, you know, as a test pilot background, this is, you know, a dream job to actually be involved in all this.
01:05Now looking back, I would have told myself, hey, just, just pause and appreciate what's actually happening around you and the magic of the moment that you're in.
01:15Newton talks about, you know, standing on the shoulders of giants.
01:17Now I'm definitely not a giant, but if I can throw a little stepping stone out there, that would be my goal.
01:27If I asked my mom, she definitely has memories of me as a child talking about being an astronaut.
01:36I always knew I wanted to do something related to aviation.
01:39But at the same time, I think I also started to tell myself it wasn't really possible because it was just something to get let down from.
01:46Every phase of my life I had doubt, whether it was at the Air Force Academy and wondering whether I could survive basic training, whether it was when I was at MIT or even pilot training, failing check rides.
01:56And thinking again, maybe, maybe I'm on the wrong path.
01:58But I think in all those events, I've been blessed to have a supportive family, supportive spouse, supportive mentors and leaders who helped me at the time realize like, hey, these are setbacks and you get better by tackling those head on.
02:26For me, every time I have an NBL run or every time I do a practice spacewalk and you get in that suit, like we call it the EMU and feel the gloves go on, feel the pressure build, feel the fans start to flow and the air starts to come over the back of your head and you realize like, this is it.
02:41That's when it really strikes me that this is actually not a dream. This is actually happening.
02:56This is actually happening.