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Episode 63: Rakesh Sharma India’s first and only spaceman

By Gurbir Dated: November 3, 2013 8 Comments

Rakesh SharmaWith a population of 1.2 billion people, India has just one national with first hand experience of spaceflight. Rakesh Sharma, a now retired Indian Air Force wing commander in 1984 spent eight days in space aboard the Soviet space station Salyut 7. This account of his spaceflight was recorded at this home in the Nilgris region of India in August 2013.

MP3 audio below and Youtube video below that

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Filed Under: Gagarin, India, podcast, Rakesh Sharma, Rocket, soviet space, space, USSR, Yuri Gagarin Tagged With: India, ISRO, podcast, Rakesh Sharma, Salyut, Soyuz, USSR

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Comments

  1. John Pond says

    15th November 2013 at 21:01

    Really enjoyed this interview with such an eloquent and interesting man. Very unassuming and an example to others. Didn’t appreciate the collaboration with Russia and the difficulties that caused for the Indian prospective astronaughts, especially walking miles a day through snow.. Thanks for this insight Gurbir.

  2. juglaksinghtaraksingh says

    11th January 2014 at 23:20

    Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma is a national hero; an inspiration to a billon plus Indians. Wish my two and half year old son follows his footsteps…

  3. Anthony Wallace Cross says

    10th July 2017 at 11:36

    Excellent interview.

  4. Donald M. Scott says

    7th October 2017 at 21:54

    Encouraging, heart-warming, inspiring, and an excellent research source. Many thanks.

    Donald M. Scott NASA-AESP Retired

  5. Donald M. Scott says

    7th October 2017 at 22:00

    PS. One of the wonderful trivia items from this mission is that, in the middle of the cold war, the two crews named themselves for Star Trek species. In Space, there is only one Earth.

  6. Sibu Mehra says

    20th July 2019 at 08:21

    Wonderful interview! I happen to know him since I was a child as my father was in the forces, as well. We have been very close family friends. I was fortunate that he gave me the first day cover, as well as a picture of him in the space shuttle, which I still have 35 years later.

Trackbacks

  1. India and Space - AstrotalkUK says:
    3rd November 2013 at 22:59

    […] 4th: Episode 63: Rakesh Sharma – India’s only spaceman. A video interview recorded in August 2013 where Rakesh Sharma talks […]

  2. Why IAF fighter pilots are the natural choice for ISRO manned missions | Good Planes says:
    30th August 2018 at 22:56

    […] space shuttles) yet. “You can feel the tongue swelling, the blood rush to the head,” Sharma remembered in an August 2013 interview to the […]

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