The Central College community will present "Space Station Central" on Thursday, Feb. 24, in Harry and Bernice Vermeer Banquet Hall of Graham Conference Center on Central's campus. The event is free to attend and open to the public.

Those in attendance and tuning in online will have the unique opportunity to hear from Raja Chari - husband of Holly Schaffter Chari, a 1999 graduate of Central - who is currently aboard the International Space Station. Chari is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut and the current commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission which launched on Nov. 10, 2021.

Chari is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy where he received bachelor's degrees in astronautical engineering and engineering science. He earned a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.

Mary Benedict, assistant director of annual giving and alumni engagement, is the architect of the event. When she was contacted initially, she said, "I thought it was a phishing attempt, but I was so glad to learn it was real!

"This is an amazing opportunity for Central College," Benedict says. "We're so grateful to Holly for making this connection with her alma mater and to Raja for choosing Central for his live event! We look forward to welcoming the local and campus communities for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The program also will feature a short presentation from Pavithra (Pavi) Premaratne, assistant professor of physics and engineering at Central. Premaratne is serving as a co-principal investigator for his alma mater, Iowa State University, on a research project developing a 3D printing process for a zero-gravity environment. This work has been submitted to and is being tested by NASA.

The event will be made available online as well, with a link and final time for the event to come. Once that information is known, Central will share the details. Until then, save the date.

Central College of Pella, Iowa, is a private, four-year liberal arts college. Central is known for its academic rigor and leadership formation and for cultivating diversity of thought and culture through the arts and sciences, professional fields of study and experiential learning.