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Time of India
33 minutes ago
- Science
- Time of India
Space travel alters worldview, makes clear planet belongs to everyone: India's first spaceman Rakesh Sharma
NEW DELHI: At a time when Indian astronaut is in space as part of the Axiom-4 mission, India's first spaceman , who went there as part of the Indo-Soviet space programme in 1984, has said that space travel alters the mindset of humans and makes them see the world from a perspective that 'this planet belongs to everyone' and is 'not the sole preserve' of anyone. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'We really need to preserve what we have, which means we need to end conflicts, we need to forget about our weapons, we need to forget about confrontation and we need to start collaborating instead,' he said in a recorded podcast shared by ministry of defence on the day India returned to space after 41 years. After more than a year-long training in the erstwhile USSR, Sharma, an IAF test pilot, was launched into space along with two Russian cosmonauts, where he spent over a week in orbit on the Salyut-7 space station in 1984. 'Because I was a test pilot when the selection happened… that time I was young, I was fit, and I had the qualification, so I was lucky enough to have been chosen. Then, after selection, we moved to Star City, just outside Moscow, for our training. The training went on for 18 months and culminated in the Indo-Soviet spaceflight in 1984. It was an eight-day mission, and we carried out experiments which were designed by Indian scientists," he said. Sharma recalled that the entire training and communication with crew members and mission control while they were in orbit was in Russian. 'We had to learn the language before we started training, and that was not easy because of the paucity of time. So, we took about two months to learn the language,' he said. He highlighted that in space, sunrises and sunsets happen at an interval of 45 minutes as 'we moved around Earth in just 90 minutes', and saw day and night several times in a day. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In the podcast released on Wednesday night, the spaceman said that while space travel technology has changed, 'as humans, we haven't changed much'. 'The mental impact will always be there because humans will be able to get a different perspective. It does kind of alter the worldview... (shows) the vast place in the universe.' Sharma had famously said 'Sare Jehan Se Acha...' when then PM Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from space. Asked about the future of Indian space travel, he said, 'We will be going farther and farther from planet Earth... Space tourism will happen but space exploration will go side by side and we will keep marching ahead'. On India's uniqueness, Sharma said: 'We shared our Vedas with everybody. Our heritage says 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The world is one family)'. We still value it in the modern world as during Covid epidemic, we shared (vaccines) with everybody...'. When asked how he found the world and India from space, Sharma exclaimed, 'Oh dear! Beautiful. In our country, we got everything: we got a long coastline, the ghats section, plains, tropical forests, mountains, Himalayas. It's a beautiful sight, different colours, different textures'. After his return from the mission, Sharma went back to the IAF from where he retired as wing commander. 'After a few years, I moved to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as their chief test pilot,' he said, and recalled his association with the evolution of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas' fighter jet. 'Later I joined the IT industry. Life has been rewarding for me.'
The Print
18 hours ago
- Science
- The Print
Space travel alters world view… planet Earth belongs to everyone: Rakesh Sharma
Sharma had spent eight days in orbit in the erstwhile Soviet Union's Salyut-7 space station in 1984. He shared his thoughts in a recorded podcast shared by the Ministry of Defence on the day India returned to space after 41 years, as Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla from India and three other astronauts set forth on a landmark space odyssey on Wednesday. New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) Astronaut Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to journey into space in 1984, said space travel alters the mindset of humans and makes them see the world from a perspective that 'this planet belongs to everyone' and is not the sole preserve of anyone. Shukla scripted history by embarking on space travel, along with three others from the US, Poland and Hungary, to the International Space Station as part of a commercial mission by Axiom Space. In the podcast released Wednesday night, Sharma, who had famously said, 'Sare Jehan Se Acha…' during his time in the orbit, said he was a test pilot in the Indian Air Force when the selection happened. He later retired as wing commander from the IAF. 'Because I was a test pilot when the selection happened.. that time, I was young, I was fit, and I had the qualification, so I was lucky enough to have been chosen. Then, after selection, we moved to Star City, just outside Moscow, for our training. 'The training went on for 18 months, which culminated in the Indo-Soviet spaceflight in 1984. It was an eight-day mission, and we carried out experiments which were designed by Indian scientists,' he said. Sharma recalled that the entire training, and communication with crew members and mission control while they were in orbit, was in Russian. 'We had to learn the language before we started training, and that was not easy because of the paucity of time. So, we took about two months to learn the language,' he said. While the Indo-Soviet spaceflight took place in an analogue era when very few owned a television, the Axiom-4 mission lift-off was watched by people on TV screens and mobile phones live across the globe. After multiple delays, Elon Musk's SpaceX launch vehicle with Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon-9 rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:01 pm (IST) carrying mission pilot Shukla, former NASA astronaut Commander Peggy Whitson and mission specialists Tibor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland. 'Kamaal ki ride thi (It was an amazing ride),' Shukla said 10 minutes after the Dragon spacecraft was placed in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of 200 km as part of the Axiom Mission 4(Ax-4). In the podcast, Sharma, when asked how he felt watching the world and India from space, exclaimed, 'Oh dear! Beautiful.' 'In our country, we got everything: we got a long coastline, we got the ghats section, we got plains, we got tropical forests, we got mountains, Himalayas. It's a beautiful sight, different colours, different textures,' he said. Sharma said in space, days and nights are very unusual, as sunrises and sunsets happen at an interval of just 45 minutes. He said while space travel technology has changed, 'as humans, we haven't changed much'. 'The mental impact will always be there because humans will be able to get a different perspective. It does kind of alter the world view… (shows) the vast place in universe,' the veteran astronaut said. It changes the mindset, he emphasised. The IAF, in a post on X, said Shukla has set forth on a landmark space mission, carrying the pride of the nation beyond Earth. It also said, 'This is a dèjà-vu moment for India, 41 years after the mission of Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, who first carried our Tricolour beyond Earth. Being more than a mission – it is a reaffirmation of India's ever-expanding horizon.' Asked about the future of Indian space travel, Sharma said, 'We will be going farther and farther from planet Earth.' 'We really need to preserve what we have, which means we need to end conflicts, we need to forget about our weapons….this planet belongs to everyone, it is not a sole preserve,' he underlined. Sharma added that space exploration will 'keep marching ahead'. 'I am hoping that India will be a modern leader in the years to come, and India will succeed in its (space) mission, which I am quite confident we will,' he said. Sharma said after his return from the mission, he went back to the Indian Air Force. 'And after few years, I moved to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as their chief test pilot,' he said, and recalled his association with the evolution of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas'. PTI KND AMJ SKY SKY This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
