PELLA — Raja Chari, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut and commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission, will present at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, Douwstra Auditorium, on Central College’s campus.

Central hosted “Space Station Central” in February 2022, where campus and community members were able to talk to Chari live while he was in space on the International Space Station. Now he is back home and Central has the honor of welcoming him and his spouse, Holly Schaffter Chari ’99, to speak in Douwstra Auditorium. The public is invited to hear Chari discuss his time aboard the International Space Station and life as an astronaut.

Chari is also one of 18 astronauts, chosen from 18,000 applicants, to train for NASA’s Artemis moon-landing program. This lunar exploration program will land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024.

Astronaut Chari’s program is free. Please register in advance. The presentation will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. on Central Dutch Network.