Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space on this day in 1984 republicworld.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from republicworld.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Rakesh Sharma Birthday: 7 Interesting facts about Indian space hero
Rakesh Sharma, the Punjab-born cosmonaut, and pilot created history as he took India to become the 14th nation to travel outer space. As the Indian space hero turns 72 years old today, let s have a look at some of the interesting facts related to him.
1. Rakesh Sharma had taken Indian food to space with the help of the Defense Food Research Lab situated in Mysore. They had packed suji halwa, aloo chole and veg pulao which Sharma shared with fellow astronauts.Â
2. Rakesh Sharma was the first who practiced zero gravity yoga in order to deal with space sickness in 1984. His experiments were quite appreciated by The Rocosmos. At a conference in 2009, he suggested the next Indian cosmonauts to practice zero gravity yoga to cope up with space sickness. Â
Here is a list of all Indian and Indian-origin astronauts
Rakesh Sharma On April 3, 1984, Rakesh Sharma flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 rocket to the space station Salyut 7.
In 1984, former Indian Air Force pilot Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to travel into space. He was selected as a cosmonaut for a space mission launched jointly by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space programme.
On April 3, 1984, he flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 rocket to the space station Salyut 7. When then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked him what India looked like from outer space, Sharma famously said, “Saare Jahaan se Achcha”.