40th anniversary of Rakesh Sharma’s historic spaceflight today
New Delhi, April 2
India will on Wednesday mark the 40th anniversary of the historic April 3, 1984, spaceflight by the first Indian cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma, aboard Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11.
Sharma had in 1984 lifted off the Soviet rocket in the landmark flight, becoming India’s first citizen to enter space.
On the occasion, the Russian embassy in India, jointly with the Russian House in New Delhi and the TASS news agency, will hold a special photo exhibition, including unique archival photographic material pertaining to the historic flight.
A documentary, “How I Became a Cosmonaut”, will also be screened at Russia House on Ferozeshah Road in Delhi. Rakesh Sharma will grace the event.
It was aboard this flight that in an answer to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s query, “How does India look from up there”, Sharma, now 75, had famously said, “Saarey jahan se achha”.
