Rakesh Sharma
Born on January 13, 1949 in Patiala, Punjab, he
attended St. Georges Grammar School, Hyderabad & graduated from Nizam
College, Hyderabad.
He was admitted to National Defence Academy as an
air force plebe in July 1966.
He was commissioned into Indian Air Force (IAF) as
a pilot in 1970.
He progressed through numerous levels where in 1984
he was promoted to rank of squadron leader.
He was selected on 20 September 1982 to become a
cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint program between IAF & Soviet
Interkosmos space programme.
In 1984, he became the first Indian citizen to
enter space when he flew aboard Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 launched from Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic on 3 April 1984.
Soyuz T-11 spacecraft docked and transferred three
member Soviet-Indian international crew, consisting of ship's commander, Yury
Malyshev and flight engineer, Gennadi Strekalov, to Salyut 7 Orbital Station.
He spent 7 days, 21 hours & 40 minutes aboard
Salyut 7 during which his team conducted scientific & technical studies
which included 43 experimental sessions.
His work was mainly in fields of bio-medicine &
remote sensing.
The crew held a joint television news conference
with officials in Moscow & then Indian PM Indira Gandhi.
When Gandhi asked him how India looked from outer
space, he replied, 'Sare Jahan Se Accha'.
With his voyage aboard Soyuz T-11, India became
14th nation to send a man to outer space.
He retired as a wing commander and later joined
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 1987, serving as chief test pilot in HAL
Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to Bangalore to work as HAL's chief
test pilot.
He retired from flying in 2001.
He was conferred honour of Hero of the Soviet Union
upon his return from space.
He remains to date the only Indian to have been
conferred this honour.
India conferred its highest peacetime gallantry
award, Ashoka Chakra, on him, Malyshev & Strekalov.
