Rakesh Sharma
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'My first day in space'
Jan 1, 2017: The Times of India
`I knew space wasn't going to be a bicycle ride' Rakesh Sharma | 67 | Astronaut
On April 3, 1984, my two crew members and I got into the elevator that would take us to the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft at the Baikonur cosmodrome (now in Kazakhstan).Though there was this great sense of anticipation and curio s i t y, I j u s t slipped into my seat in the spacecraft as if it was r o u t i n e. T h e launch was noisy -a lot of vibration and acceleration. I knew this was not going to be a bicycle ride.
After a few hours, we docked with the Salyut-7 space station and were greeted by the cosmonauts who were already there.There were no surprises because it was exactly like the simulator. The food, mostly Russian fare, didn't feel strange either because we had eaten it during our intense training. We immediately got down to business, look ing at the various pro grammes, setting up exper iments...I adjusted to zero gravity quite fast. The work schedule was tight even on the f i r s t d a y.
Whenever there was a break, I enjoyed the scenery outside which was beautiful.
On the second day, I spoke to our PM Indira Gandhi and when she asked how India looked from above, I replied, “Sare Jahan Se Achha.
I would love to go back into space, but this time as a tourist.
As told to Srinivas Laxman
