Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, declared on Wednesday that “I can proudly say that Chandrayaan 3 will have a safe landing” because he is aware of how ISRO operates.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has come under headlines for her embarrassing moment, even though India celebrated the historic Chandrayaan-3 moon mission’s arrival on the lunar south pole. Just before the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the moon, Chief Minister Banerjee mistook astronaut Rakesh Sharma for Bollywood actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan while speaking at an event in Kolkata.
Because of this error, Mamata Banerjee is currently receiving trolling on the internet. From the people of West Bengal, let me congratulate ISRO in advance. Scientists deserve recognition. The nation must be given credit. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi questioned “Rakesh Roshan” about how India seemed after his landing on the moon, according to Mamata Banerjee.
Who is Rakesh Sharma?
India’s first citizen in space, Rakesh Sharma was born in Patiala, Punjab state, on January 13, 1949. He is an Indian military pilot and cosmonaut. 1971 saw Sharma enlist as a pilot in the Indian Air Force. During the 1971 war in Bangladesh, he piloted 21 MiG-21 combat missions.
For a joint Soviet-Indian space mission in 1982, he was chosen as a cosmonaut. Flight engineer Gennady Strekalov and commander Yury Malyshev, two Soviet cosmonauts, travelled alongside him on a Soyuz T-11 to the space station Salyut 7 on April 3, 1984.
Sharma conducted research there on the benefits of yoga on the body while in weightlessness, as well as on photographs from space featuring India. His crew mates arrived in Kazakhstan at the end of their roughly eight-day trip. On April 11, after a mission that lasted almost eight days, Sharma and his crew mates touched down in Kazakhstan.
As chief test pilot, he began working for Hindustan Aeronautics in 1987, an Indian corporation. Additionally, after leaving Hindustan Aeronautics in 2001, he was appointed chairman of the board of Automated Workflow, a Bangalore based process-management company.
Rakesh Sharma’s Career
The journey taken by Rakesh Sharma was remarkable. He never squandered a chance in his life. He was given the opportunity to enlist in the IAF and become an astronaut. In addition, he became the final and first Indian astronaut to fly in space. It was a pivotal period in the space histories of the Soviet Union and India.
Air Force
Rakesh Sharma joined the Indian Air Force in 1970 as a test pilot and rose to the rank of squadron leader in 1984. He conducted 21 combat sorties with the Mig-21 during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. He was selected to serve as a cosmonaut on September 20, 1982, as part of the joint Indian Air Force and Soviet Interkosmos space programme.
At the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Moscow, he underwent two years of intense training. In the IAF facility in Bengaluru, he also had a claustrophobia test, which involved a 72-hour lockdown in a room.
Considering Becoming an Astronaut
The first Indian in space was Rakesh Sharma. When the Soyuz T-11 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic on April 3, 1984, he was on board. At Salyut 7 Orbital Station, the three-person Canadian-Soviet crew was transported by docking of the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft.
The Salyut 7 was their home for seven days, twenty-one hours, and forty minutes. The group conducted 43 experimental sessions as part of their technical and scientific investigations. For the most part, Rakesh Sharma worked in biomedicine and remote sensing. Together with Moscow officials and Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, the crew held a joint TV news conference.
When Indira Gandhi questioned, Rakesh Sharma about how India seemed from space, he responded, “Sare Jahan Se Accha”. Later, India became the 14th country to send a person into space and the 128th man to do so with Rakesh Sharma’s space mission.
Retiring and Beyond
When Rakesh Sharma retired in 1987, he held the position of wing commander. He began working for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in the same year and served as the division’s chief test pilot until 1992. He was testing a MiG-21 close to Ozar (Nashik) when the aircraft experienced a technical malfunction and went out of control. His prompt ejection from the aircraft saved his life.
In 2001, he gave up flying and moved to Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. Golf, gardening, yoga, reading, and travelling are some of his pastimes.
Rakesh Sharma’s Family
For those who don’t know, Madhu is the wife of Rakesh Sharma. She is an interior decorator. The couple has been blessed with a daughter, Kritiika, and a son, Kapil. Regarding the vocations of Rakesh Sharma’s children, his daughter works in media arts, and his son is an actor and director.
Mansi, one of his daughters, passed away at the age of six. Tripata Sharma is his mother’s name, while Devendranath Sharma is his father.
Rakesh Sharma Net Worth
Renowned Astronaut Rakesh Sharma, who is 74 years old, has a net worth of $1–$5 million, based on Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb, and other online sources. His wealth has increased dramatically between 2022 and 2023. As a professional astronaut, he made the money.
Rakesh Sharma’s Educational Qualification
Rakesh Sharma received his degree from Nizam College in Hyderabad after attending St. George’s Grammar School in Hyderabad. As a plebe in the Air Force, he enrolled at the National Defence Academy in July 1966 and received his pilot licence in the Indian Air Force in 1970.
Medals and Honours for Rakesh Sharma
Rakesh Sharma was honoured to be named a Soviet Hero upon his return from space. Being granted this accolade makes him the only Indian recipient. Alongside him were the other two mission members, Malyshev and Strekalov, who also received the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest decoration for peacetime valour.
Facts about Rakesh Sharma
- Packing suji halwa, aloo chole, and vegetable pulao for Sharma’s space mission was done by the Defence Food Research Lab in Mysore.
- By taking pictures of India from space, he spared the country from having to survey the same territory by aerial photography for two years. In Burma or modern-day Myanmar, he also saw a fire.
- To combat space sickness in 1984, he practised zero gravity yoga.
- In space, he is the first Indian astronaut.
- He has received honours from the Soviet Union and India.
- Like his Russian counterparts, he was selected from 150 other Indian aspirants to go into space.
- He went into space on the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft, spending more than seven days, twenty-one hours, and forty minutes there.
Rakesh Sharma’s FAQs
A- Soviet Interkosmos Programme got Rakesh Sharma to go to space.
A- Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian who went to space.
A- Rakesh Sharma is 74 years old in 2023.
A- Madhu Sharma is the wife of Rakesh Sharma.
A- Rakesh Sharma stayed 7d 21h 40m in space.
A- On April 3, 1984, was the time when Rakesh Sharma went into space.
A- Soyuz T-11 is the space mission in which Rakesh Sharma participated.
A- Ramesh Sharma went into space at the age of 35.
