Raja Chari made his first appearance in Des Moines Wednesday since becoming the 10th Iowan in space.
The NASA astronaut spent 177 days in orbit — 175 days of those at the International Space Station — from Nov. 10, 2021, to May 6, 2022. He spoke Wednesday at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center downtown during the Future Ready Iowa Summit, a conference hosted by the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council to promote science, technology engineering and math education and innovation.
Chari, 45, grew up in Cedar Falls, graduated from Waterloo Columbus and had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force before joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017. He became the 10th Iowan to go to space when he commanded NASA’s SpaceX Crew 3 mission to the International Space Station.
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During his half-hour speech Chari told educators and business owners that Iowa schools prepare students well for careers in engineering and science. But if any of those kids want to work in the space industry they should find a different path than the one he took.
Prioritizing STEM education in Iowa
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spoke Wednesday ahead of Chari’s appearance; her office created the STEM Advisory Council in 2016. Chari pointed to the council, and the strong education system in Iowa, as a benefit to all of Iowa’s children considering a career in science, technology engineering or math.
“You have this unique blend of the agricultural upbringing, the hard work ethic, the academic influence and this all comes together,” Chari said. “You just need to capitalize on that. All the pieces are there.
“You have such a great foundation, and I don’t think that’s really widely known outside of Iowa.”
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‘Go find your own path’
Chari said in June that kids interested in space should find something they’re passionate about in science, math or medicine and “grab onto it.” His path to NASA started when his parents emigrated from India to the U.S. and settled in Cedar Falls. Chari eventually became an Air Force colonel and later a test pilot.
“All of our paths are completely different,” Chari said. “If you’re trying to be an astronaut or trying to go to space, the last thing you should do is look at our bios and try to do that, because we already have that. Go find your own path.”
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There will be setbacks — both big and small — along the way, he said. Crew 3 was slated to launch on Oct. 31, but Chari woke up with a scratchy throat from the respiratory syncytial virus.
“Talk about feeling really bad,” Chari said. “The thing you’ve been working for all your life and then having to send everyone home.”
Kids should dream big and they could end up like him or Peggy Whitson, a Beaconsfield native who spent 665 days in space — more time than any other American or woman worldwide. But there are only about 40 astronauts, he said.
Space industry jobs are available in mission control, manufacturing rockets and servicing payloads and experiments. Private space companies are booming and “looking for people to come in,” Chari said.
“At NASA we have people that do IT, we have people that do public affairs. It’s like a little city,” Chari said. “There’s not just engineering and science jobs. There’s plenty of places for kids to go get involved in space, even if it’s not flying in space.”
Spacewalks feel like being in a ‘really bad fight’
At the end of his speech Chari played a video of highlights from the recent mission. He had spacewalks on March 15 and March 23 to perform maintenance on the space station’s exterior.
Spacewalks look fun, he said, and can be, but they’re also physically taxing.
Space shuttle-era space suits aren’t custom fitted so they do “not feel comfortable, even on the ground,” he said. And those suits, pressurized to 4.3 pounds per square inch, leave astronauts feeling like they were just in a “really bad fight.”
“Every move you make is opposed by four and a half-pounds-per-square inch of force for seven hours,” Chari said. “It’s pretty common when we do debriefs you don’t write because you can’t hold a pen. Your hand is just shot.”
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Returning to Iowa ‘energizing’ for astronaut Raja Chari
Chari spoke in January 2020 at his alma mater, Columbus High School, during his first public affairs visit as an astronaut. But he hadn’t been back to Iowa since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During Wednesday’s return, his second public affairs trip as an astronaut, which will also include a scheduled speech Thursday at Central College in Pella, Chari said that such events — especially when he can meet and speak to kids — break up the monotony of the intense, constant training in Houston.
At about 10:30 a.m. after Chari got done with his speech and media obligations more than 100 students from West Des Moines’ Indian Hills Junior High School flooded into a ballroom to meet him.
“For me it’s energizing,” Chari said of meeting the next generation of engineers and astronauts. “You’re living vicariously through young people. Going on public affairs visits … you don’t get to see the tangible long-term result, but you get to see the faces.”
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Philip Joens covers public safety, city government and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.
