Rakesh Sharma

Rakesh Sharma (born 13 January 1949) is a retired Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force. He was the first Indian and 138th person to travel in space. 

Sharma retired from the Air force as Wing Commander. He spent eight days in Salyut 7 Space station in April 1984. He was given the Hero of Soviet Union by the Soviet Government and the Ashok Chakra by the Indian Government.
Career
Sharma joined as a test pilot in the Indian Air Force in 1960. He flew various aircrafts, for example Mikoyan-Gurevich (MIG) aircraft in 1971. He was selected on 20September in 1982 to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint program between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Soviet Intercosmos space program.

In 1984, he became the first Indian to fly to space, when he flew aboard the Soyuz T-11. It took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2 April 1984. The Soyuz T-11 reached the Salyut 7 space station, with the ship's commander, Yury Malyshev, and flight engineer, Gennadi Strekalov. Sharma spent 7days, 21hours and 40minutes in the Salyut 7. The crew held a television news conference with officials in Moscow and then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. When Gandhi asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, he replied, "Sare Jahan Se Accha" (the best in the world). This is the title of a patriotic poem by Muhammad Iqbal against the British Raj. India became the 14thnation to send a man to outer space.

 Related pages 
 Kalpana Chawla
 Sunita Williams
Yuri Gagarin
 References 

 Other websites 

Spacefacts biography of Rakesh Sharma

Category:1949 births
Category:Living people
Category:Indian scientists
Sharma, Rakesh