mo4ch:>Sleeping in orbit & surviving Russian winter: Rakesh Sharma, first Indian in space, recalls his training & flight | Mo4ch News

Four Indian astronauts are now training in Russia ahead of their nation’s first manned space mission. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, shared with RT his memories of braving Russian winters and going into orbit in 1984.Sharma, a former wing commander in the Indian Air Force, became the first – and so far only – Indian citizen to ever travel to space. He was part of the three-man crew on the Soviet starship Soyuz T-11, and spent a week on the famous Salyut-7 orbital station – a project that paved the way for modular orbital habitats, including the International Space Station (ISS).“At a personal level it was life-changing, in sense of beauty one could see and important science one could do,” Sharma told RT, recalling his time in orbit.The impact of the experience… was novel and tremendous.However, the Salyut-7 crew that also included Yury Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov had such a tight working schedule that they hardly had a chance to take in the “beautiful scenery” out of the…