US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American astronaut Raja J Chari for the appointment to the grade of Air Force brigadier general, reported news agency PTI. 

The report cited the US Defence Department and said that the nomination, which was announced on Thursday, will have to be confirmed by the Senate. 

Notably, it is the Senate that approves all senior civilian and military appointments. 

Chari, a 45-year-old Air Force Colonel, is currently serving as the Crew-3 commander and astronaut, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, Texas. 

Chari earned a master's degree in aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, the PTI reportmentioned. 

He also served as the commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California. 

According to the report, Raja J Chari was inspired by his father Srinivas Chari, who went to the US at a young age from Hyderabad for an engineering degree, to get a higher education and make a successful career. He met his wife and spent his entire career at John Deere in Waterloo, it added. 

Chari was selected as the Commander of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) by NASA and the European Space Agency in 2020. He has extensive experience as a test pilot with over 2,500 hours of flight time in his career. 

Brigadier General (BG) is a one-star General Officer rank of the United States Air Force. It is just above Colonel and below Major General, the report stated. 
 

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