Chari is on a six-month science mission at ISS to demonstrate new technologies for NASA’s future Moon and Mars missions
Indian American astronaut Raja Chari took a 6 hour and 54 minute spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Kayla Barron in preparation for installation of a solar array at the International Space Station (ISS).
The duo began their spacewalk at 8:12 am EDT Tuesday and concluded it at 3:06 pm EDT after completing their major objectives for the day by assembling and installing modification kits, according to NASA.
Read: Indian American astronaut Raja Chari all set for first space flight (October 28, 2021)
It was was the first spacewalk for Chari, commander of the SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon capsule, currently docked to the ISS and the second for flight engineer Barron.
They are in the midst of a planned six-month science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
Chari, who has served as a colonel for the US Air Force with more than 2,500 hours of flight time, was picked to be an astronaut in 2017. He was selected as the commander of the Crew-3 mission to the ISS in 2020 and launched to the flying outpost in November 2021.
Read: Indian American astronaut Raja Chari reaches Space Station (November 12, 2021)
During the spacewalk, Chari and Barron built a support bracket onto which a future ISS roll out solar array (iROSA) will be mounted. So far, two of six iROSAs have been deployed on station with four additional arrays to be delivered.
The arrays will ultimately augment six of the station’s eight power channels, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.
Astronauts Tom Marshburn and Matthias Maurer assisted the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits and monitored their external activities during the spacewalk, designated US EVA 79.
Both Chari and Barron had been preparing for the spacewalk for over a week and had readied their spacesuits and placed their spacewalk tools inside Quest.
Read: Indian American Astronaut Raja Chari Conducts First Spacewalk (March 15, 2022)
Chari has a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School, which has a long history of providing a pipeline to the astronaut corps.
Born in Milwaukee, he grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His father Sreenivas V Chari immigrated to the US from Hyderabad to earn an engineering degree.