New York: US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American astronaut Raja Chari on the moon mission team for promotion to an Air Force brigadier general, according to the Defence Department.

The nomination announced in late January will have to be confirmed by the Senate which approves all senior civilian and military appointments. The US Air Force uses the same ranks as the Army, which considers brigadiers to be one-star generals.

Chari is a member of the Artemis team of astronauts preparing for the US mission of returning to the moon. In 2021, he commanded a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) crew to the International Space Station where he served for 177 days and conducted a spacewalk.

Before joining NASA, Chari was an Air Force test pilot with a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics.