About 36% of the scientists in NASA are Indians, according to a report released in 2008. It is, indeed, a matter of pride. A recent piece of news has brought more cheers to India.
US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected 12 astronauts who will be trained for missions to orbit earth and outer space. One of them, Raja Chari, is an Indian. NASA vice-president Mike Pence revealed this at function organised at Johnson Space Center in Houston on June 8, 2017.
About 18,353 people had applied for the selection as the Astronaut Candidate but only 12 people made to the final list. According to certain estimates, the selection process was 100 times more difficult than getting admission in Harvard University.
At the time of selection, Chari was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force having experience of over 2,000 hours of flight time. He is 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.