Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's space journey captivated the nation in 1984.
'I am past history,' one of India's greatest heroes said when Rediff asked him to speak about Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla's forthcoming voyage to space.
'Subhanshu is our country's future space explorer'.
Here's what you must know about the first Indian to travel to space.
IMAGE: In 1984, the first Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, flew on board the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft with two Soviet cosmonauts. Photograph: Kind courtesy India in Russia/X
- Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma spent eight days in space in 1984. He was 35 at that time.
- He flew aboard the Soviet Union's Soyuz T-11 with two other Russian cosmonauts to the Salyut 7 Orbital station in a joint India-USSR space mission.
- He was a student when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961.
- He joined the Indian Air Force in 1970.
- His space journey captivated the nation and made him a national hero.
- He was awarded the Ashok Chakra, the country's highest gallantry honour in peacetime.
- The Soviets honoured him with the Hero of Soviet Union title on his return to Earth.
- The preparation for the journey took two years, including a year spent in the hen Soviet Union.
- His reply to then prime minister Indira Gandhi that India looked 'Saare Jahan Se Accha' from space became the defining moment of his space journey.
- Wing Commander Sharma was informed about the video link to the prime minister two days before the event and had no idea what she would ask.
- "When we were in school we used to sing the song all the time so it was top of recall," he told Rediff a few years ago.
- He was the 128th human to travel to space.
- Astronaut Sunita Williams met him when she visited India.
- He spent many years as a test pilot after his return from space and retired in 2001.
- Post-retirement, he settled down in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, quite close to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's home.
© 2025