Rakesh Sharma

Rakesh Sharma (born 13 January 1949) is an Indian cosmonaut and a former Indian Air Force officer. He flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. He is the first Indian citizen to travel in space, although there have been other astronauts of Indian origin who travelled to space, who were not Indian citizens.<ref name=spacefacts>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another Air Force pilot, Ravish Malhotra, was placed on standby.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Sharma was born on 13 January 1949 in Patiala of present-day Punjab, India into a Punjabi family.<ref name="aerospace" /> Sharma attended St. George's Grammar School, Hyderabad<ref name=aerospace /> and graduated from Nizam College, Hyderabad. He joined the National Defence Academy as an air force plebe in July 1966<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He flew 21 combat missions as a MiG-21 pilot during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

IAF career

An alumnus of the 35thTemplate:NbspNational Defence Academy, Sharma joined the Indian Air Force as a test pilot in 1970 and progressed through numerous levels where in 1984 he was promoted to the rank of squadron leader.<ref name=aerospace>Template:Cite web</ref> He was selected on 20Template:NbspSeptember 1982 to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint programme between the Indian Air Force and the Soviet Interkosmos space programme.<ref name=hin>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cosmonaut

File:Rakesh Sharma (cropped).jpg

Sharma in a Sokol space suit ahead of the Soyuz T-11 flight

In 1984, Sharma became the first Indian citizen to enter space when he flew aboard the Soviet rocket [[]] launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic on 3 April 1984. The Soyuz T-11 spacecraft carrying cosmonauts including Sharma docked and transferred the three member Soviet-Indian international crew, consisting of the ship's commander, Yury Malyshev, and flight engineer, Gennadi Strekalov, to the Salyut 7 Orbital Station. Sharma spent 7Template:Nbspdays, 21Template:Nbsphours, and 40Template:Nbspminutes aboard the Salyut 7 during which his team conducted scientific and technical studies which included forty-threeTemplate:Nbspexperimental sessions. His work was mainly in the fields of bio-medicine and remote sensing.<ref name=hin /> The crew held a joint television news conference with officials in Moscow and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. When Indira Gandhi asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, he replied, "Sare Jahan Se Accha" (better than the whole world). This is the title of a patriotic poem by Iqbal that had been written when India was under British colonial rule, that continues to be popular today. With Sharma's voyage aboard Soyuz T-11, India became the 14thTemplate:Nbspnation to send a man to outer space.<ref name="hin" />

Post-retirement

Sharma retired as a wing commander and later joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 1987, serving as the chief test pilot in the HAL Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to Bangalore to work as HAL's chief test pilot. Sharma retired from flying in 2001.<ref name="spacefacts" />

Military awards and decorations

Sharma was conferred the honour of the Hero of the Soviet Union upon his return from space. He remains to date the only Indian to have been conferred this honour. India also conferred its highest peacetime gallantry award, the 'Ashoka Chakra', on him and the twoTemplate:NbspSoviet members of his mission, Malyshev and Strekalov.<ref name="hin" />

The citation for the Ashoka Chakra reads as follows:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Blockquote

Ribbon bar

File:Ashoka Chakra ribbon.svg File:IND Paschimi Star Ribbon.svg File:IND Sangram Medal Ribbon.svg
File:IND Sainya Seva Medal Ribbon.svg	File:IND Videsh Seva Medal Ribbon.svg	File:IND 25th Anniversary Independence medal.svg	File:IND 9YearsServiceMedalRibbon.svg

Ashok Chakra	Paschimi Star		Sangram Medal
Sainya Seva Medal	Videsh Seva Medal	25th Anniversary of Independence Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

Personal life

Sharma married Madhu Sharma. His son, Kapil, is a film director,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while his daughter, Krittika, is a media artist.Template:Citation needed

Popular culture

A biographical Hindi-language film titled Saare Jahaan Se Achcha (formerly Salute), is under pre-production since 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Gaganyaan
• Kalpana Chawla
• Sirisha Bandla
• Ravish Malhotra
• P. Radhakrishnan
• Shubhanshu Shukla

External links

• Interview with Rakesh Sharma in August 2013 Template:Webarchive
• Rakesh Sharma: Our First Space Man India Today, 9 November 2018