Rakesh Sharma - Wikipedia Rakesh Sharma For other people named Rakesh Sharma, see Rakesh Sharma ( disambiguation ). Rakesh Sharma Rakesh Sharma Nationality Indian Status Retired ( 1949 - 01 - 13 ) 13 January 1949 ( age 69 ) Patiala, Punjab, India Other occupation Test pilot at the Indian Air Force Rank Wing Commander, Indian Air Force Time in space 7d 21h 40m Selection 1982 Missions Soyuz T - 11 / Soyuz T - 10 Mission insignia Awards Ashok Chakra Hero of the Soviet Union Rakesh Sharma, AC, Hero of the Soviet Union ( born 13 January 1949 ), is a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T - 11, launched 2 April 1984, as part of the Intercosmos programme. Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Awards 4 Personal life 5 Popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Early life This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2017 ) Rakesh Sharma was born on 13 January 1949 in Patiala, Punjab, India. He attended St. Georges Grammar School, Hyderabad. He graduated from Nizam College. He joined the Air Force as a cadet in 1966 at the age of 18. Thereafter, he was admitted to the National Defence Academy as an Air Force plebe in July 1966. Rakesh proved to be a focused and dedicated student and by 1970, he was commissioned into the Indian Air Force to become a pilot. Career An alumnus of the 35th National Defence Academy, Rakesh Sharma joined as a test pilot in the Indian Air Force in 1970. He flew various aircraft like Mikoyan - Gurevich ( MiG ) aircraft starting from 1971. Rakesh Sharma swiftly progressed through many levels and in 1984 he was appointed as the Squadron Leader and pilot of the Indian Air Force. He was selected on the twentieth of September in 1982 to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint program between the Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) and the Soviet Intercosmos space program. In 1984, he became the first Indian citizen to enter space when he flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T - 11 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic on the second of April 1984. The Soyuz T - 11 docked and transferred the three member Soviet - Indian international crew which also included the ship 's Commander Yury Malyshev and Flight Engineer Gennadi Strekalov ( USSR ) to the Salyut 7 Orbital Station. Sharma spent 7 days 21 hours and 40 minutes aboard the Salyut 7 during which his team conducted scientific and technical studies which included 43 experimental sessions. His work was mainly in the fields of bio-medicine and remote sensing. 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 Saare Jahan Se Achcha ( the best in the 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. India became the 14th nation to send a man to outer space. He retired with the rank of wing commander. He joined the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in 1987 and served as Chief Test Pilot in the HAL Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to Bangalore to work as the Chief Test Pilot of HAL. He was also associated with the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas. Awards He was conferred with the honour of the Hero of the Soviet Union upon his return from space. The Republic of India conferred its highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, on him and the other two Soviet members of his mission, Malyshev and Strekalov. Personal life He and his wife Madhu learned Russian during their stay in Russia in 1982. His son Kapil is a film director and his daughter Kritika is a media artist. Popular culture A biographical Hindi film titled Salute is under pre-production. See also Kalpana Chawla Sunita Williams Ravish Malhotra References Jump up ^ `` Cosmonaut Biography : Rakesh Sharma ''. Spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Rakesh Sharma ''. Mapsofindia.com. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Rakesh Sharma ''. aerospaceguide.net. Retrieved 4 June 2014. ^ Jump up to : Srinivasan, Pankaja ( 2010 - 04 - 04 ). `` The down to earth Rakesh Sharma ''. The Hindu. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 05. Jump up ^ Hungama, Bollywood ( 18 December 2017 ). `` SCOOP : Shah Rukh Khan replaces Aamir Khan in the Rakesh Sharma bio-pic - Bollywood Hungama ''. BollywoodHungama.com. Retrieved 18 December 2017. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rakesh Sharma. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soyuz T - 10. Biography of Rakesh Sharma Interview with Rakesh Sharma in August 2013 Indian space programme Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) Organisations Department of Space ( DoS ) Antrix Corporation Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology ( IIST ) Indian Institute of Remote Sensing ( IIRS ) Laboratory for Electro - Optics Systems ( LEOS ) National Atmospheric Research Laboratory ( NARL ) Physical Research Laboratory ( PRL ) Physical Research Laboratory ( DECU ) Programmes Bhaskara GAGAN GSAT INSAT IRNSS IRS Cartosat RISAT Rohini SROSS Chandrayaan Human spaceflight programme Orbital Vehicle Satellites APPLE Aditya - L1 Aryabhata Astrosat AstroSat - 2 HAMSAT IMS - 1 Megha - Tropiques NISAR SARAL South Asia Satellite SRE SRE II Kalpana - 1 CARE Space probes Chandrayaan - 1 Moon Impact Probe Chandrayaan - 2 Mars Orbiter Mission Mars Orbiter Mission 2 ( proposed ) Venus orbiter mission ( proposed ) Rockets Engine CE - 7.5 CE - 20 Orbital SLV ASLV PSLV GSLV GSLV Mark III Suborbital Rohini ATV Concepts ULV Under development RLV Technology Demonstration Programme RLV - TD Facilities Indian Deep Space Network ( IDSN ) ISRO Satellite Centre ( ISAC ) ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network ( ISTRAC ) Master Control Facility ( MCF ) Satish Dhawan Space Centre ( SDSC ) Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station ( TERLS ) ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment ( ISITE ) Vikram Sarabhai Space Center ( VSSC ) Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre ( LPSC ) ISRO Propulsion Complex See also SAGA - 220 ( supercomputer ) List of Indian satellites List of Satish Dhawan Space Centre launches List of ISRO missions Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rakesh_Sharma&oldid=829095490 '' Categories : Indian astronauts Indian aviators Space programme of India Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union Indian Air Force officers 1949 births Living people People from Hyderabad, India People from Patiala Osmania University alumni Punjabi people Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Medal `` For Merit in Space Exploration '' Test pilots Hidden categories : Use Indian English from November 2013 All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English Use dmy dates from November 2013 Articles needing additional references from March 2017 All articles needing additional references Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia অসমীয়া বাংলা Български Čeština Deutsch Español فارسی Français ગુજરાતી हिन्दी Italiano ಕನ್ನಡ ქართული Magyar Malagasy മലയാളം मराठी Nederlands 日本 語 ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Русский संस्कृतम् Simple English Slovenčina Suomi தமிழ் తెలుగు ไทย Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 25 more Edit links This page was last edited on 6 March 2018, at 16 : 36. 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Question: who was the first person to go in space from india
Answer: Rakesh Sharma