"The worst feeling is not being lonely, sometimes it is being forgotten by someone you can't forget": Forgotten legacy - Rakesh Sharma became the 1st Indian to orbit space in 1984, carrying out scientific experiment for the joint Indo-Soviet Space Mission

India has been reaching remarkable heights in various fields including space research. However, often overshadowed are people who paved the way for those who came later.

Rakesh Sharma, who was born on January 13, 1949, in Patiala, joined the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1970. He reportedly conducted at least 21 combat sorties in a MiG-21 during the 1971 Bangladesh conflict, and in 1982 he was chosen as a cosmonaut for a combined Soviet-Indian spaceflight. 

He flew the Soyuz T-11 with two Soviets on April 3, 1984. Following the historic voyage in 1987, Sharma joined Hindustan Aeronautics as its chief test pilot, a position he held until 2001, when he quit to become chairman of the board of Automated Workflow.

He became the first Indian and the 138th person to fly in space in 1984. Sharma made history on April 3, 1984, when he piloted Soyuz T-11 to the space station Salyut 7 alongside two Soviet cosmonauts, commander Yury Malyshev and flight engineer Gennady Strekalov. 

The former Indian Air Force pilot was in space for 7 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes as part of a collaborative program between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space program.

Sharma conducted a variety of experiments in space, including photographs of India from space and research into the benefits of yoga during weightlessness. On April 11, 1984, Sharma and his two Soviet crewmates returned to Earth and landed in Kazakhstan. Notably, Sharma has carried Indian food to space with the help of the defence Food Research Lab in Mysore. According to reports, Sharma packed Suji Halwa, Aloo Choley, and Pulao and shared them with his fellow astronauts.

Sharma's chat with then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who inquired how India looked from up there, was one of the most memorable events of first India reaching space in 1984. Sharma responded, "Saare Jahaan Se Achcha," before going on to say that the most magnificent views from space were sunrises and sunsets. Sharma is also the first Indian to get the 'Hero of the Soviet Union' medal, in addition to becoming the first Indian to stay in space. Along with his Russian co-cosmonauts, he got the Ashok Chakra.

'I Feel My Soul Crying': Twitter User Shares Forgotten Legacy of the First Indian in Space

A Twitter user recently shared one such incident talking about the first Indian to travel to space. He memorialized the achievements of Rakesh Sharma in the field of space travel in his tweet. At the same time, the Twitter user reminded the Internet that many people do not even know who he is or that he is still alive today. He shared two snaps of the astronaut, one in his spacesuit and the other years later.

The tweet read, “99% of the Indians don’t know that the 1st Indian man who reached space, Rakesh Sharma is still alive and living his remote life from media/publicity in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.”

Another user commented, “He was part of the astronaut selection program for ISRO. Most Indians aren’t interested in anything other than movies and drama, so yeah it’s sad, but it is what it is”.

The former Indian military pilot and astronaut Rakesh Sharma created history when he became the first Indian to visit space in 1984. Prior to achieving this feat, Rakesh had joined the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1970. During his career as a military pilot, he flew 21 combat missions in a MiG-21 in the Bangladesh War of 1971.

Almost a decade later, in 1982 he was selected as an astronaut for a joint Soviet-Indian spaceflight. April 3, 1984, marked the day when he became the first Indian to visit space on board Soyuz T-11 with two Soviet astronauts, commander Yury Malyshev and flight engineer Gennady Strekalov, to the space station Salyut 7.

References:

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