"Absolutely, I'm A Test Pilot": Rakesh Sharma On Flying To Space Again
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Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, India's first astronaut, expressed interest in flying on the Gaganyaan mission set for 2025-2026. He wished Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, set to become the second Indian to go to space, happy landings and offered insights.
New Delhi:
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (retired), the first Indian to fly to space, said he would like to fly in India's own manned space mission Gaganyaan.
The Gaganyaan mission is the cornerstone of India's human spaceflight programme. Scheduled for launch in 2025-2026, it aims to send up to a three-member crew into low-Earth orbit for up to three days.
The mission will be launched from Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota aboard a GSLV Mk III rocket, now dubbed the 'Human Rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3'.
"Of course, I would love to, except that I think I was born a bit too early and it's not going to happen in my time frame. But yes, to answer your question, I would have," Wing Commander Sharma told NDTV's Science Editor Pallava Bagla to a question on taking the Gaganyaan mission to space.
"Of course, absolutely. I'm a test pilot," the astronaut who flew to space aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft told NDTV.
Wing Commander Sharma said Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's scheduled mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in the Axiom-4 mission will give India "a sneak peek at what the International Space Station is going to be."
"It will give us a flavour of flying a private resource which can take us to space. So it's going to be very interesting at many levels," Wing Commander Sharma said.
"He's going to get a chance to do some experiments and also to live in the space station. It's a longish flight, 14 days I think. And so he's going to get a sense and I think those inputs which he observes in the International Space Station can be used for our own Bharatiya Antariksh Station," the retired Indian Air Force pilot said.
Wing Commander Sharma also left a message for the younger astronaut, telling from his experience as the first Indian to go to space.
"Well, I tell Shubhanshu all the very best, happy landings and look forward to whatever you're going to see. You come back a changed person is what I'm going to tell him... I would say over the years, maybe not instantly, but over the years when you go over that experience, it brings in new insights as to what's happening to planet Earth. It gives you a sense of where you should be going, where space exploration should be going. So that it does change you," Wing Commander Sharma said.
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