Photo: NASA
(Undated) -- An Iowa Astronaut is on the way back to earth after a mission at the International Space Station. Cedar Falls native Raja Chari and two other crew-members are wrapping up a nearly six-month science mission. The spacecraft undocked early this (Thursday) morning. Splashdown is expected early tomorrow (Friday) morning. Splashdown will be at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
Chari raduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1999 with a bachelor’s degrees in Astronautical Engineering and Engineering Science. He then earned a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He was the commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the ISS, which launched on November 10, 2021.