Rakesh sharma biography in english

First Indian cosmonaut (born 1949)

For other people named Rakesh Sharma, see Rakesh Sharma (disambiguation).

Wing CommanderRakesh Sharma, AC (born 13 January 1949) is an Indian astronaut and a former Indian Air Force officer.

He flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the SovietInterkosmos programme. He is the only Indian citizen to travel in space, although there have been other astronauts of Indian origin who travelled to space, who were not Indian citizens.^[1][2] Another Air Force pilot, Ravish Malhotra, was placed on standby.^[3]

Early life

Born on 13 January 1949 in Patiala of present-day Punjab, India into a Punjabi family.^[4] Sharma attended St.

George's Grammar School, Hyderabad^[4] and graduated from Nizam College, Hyderabad. He joined the National Defence Academy as an air force plebe in July 1966^[5] and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a pilot in 1970.^[6] He