Biography Of Rakesh Sharma – Free PDF Download

EARLY LIFE

• Mr. Sharma was born on 13 January 1949 in Patiala, Punjab, India. He attended St. Georges Grammar School, Hyderabad.
• He graduated from Nizam College, Hyderabad. He was admitted to the National Defence Academy as an air force plebe in July 1966.
• Sharma was commissioned into the Indian Air Force to become a pilot in 1970.He was the first man from India to go into space.

CAREER

• An alumnus of the 35th National Defence Academy, Sharma joined as a test pilot in the Indian Air Force in 1970.
• He was appointed as a squadron leader and pilot in the Indian Air Force. He was selected on 20 September 1982 to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint program between the Indian Air Force and the Soviet Interkosmos space program.

 THE HERO

• When IAF officer Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma flew aboard a Soyuz T11 spacecraft on April 2, 1984, he became the first Indian to journey into space.
• He spent 7 days, 21 hours and 40 minutes aboard the Salyut 7 orbital station along with two Soviet astronauts, Yury Malyshev and Gennadi Strekalov.
• Now leading a retired life in the Nilgiris, Sharma, 69, is happy his record of being the only Indian in space will soon be broken if the ISRO mission succeeds.

HERO

• The crew held a joint 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).

 LATER

• He retired with the rank of wing commander. He joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 1987 and served as the chief test pilot in the HAL Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to Bangalore to work as the chief test pilot of HAL. Sharma retired from flying in 2001.
• Rakesh Sharma was conferred with the honour of the Hero of the Soviet Union upon his return from space. He remains, till date, the only Indian to have been conferred this honour. India also conferred its highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, on him and the other two Soviet members of his mission, Malyshev and Strekalov.

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