Rakesh Sharma: 'Space travel changes the way of thinking'; Rakesh Sharma shared his old experiences

Rakesh Sharma, India's first astronaut to go to space in 1984, shared his travel experiences. He said that space travel changes a person's thinking. It helps them see the world from the perspective that planet Earth belongs to everyone, not just one person.

Rakesh Sharma shared his views in a podcast recorded by the Ministry of Defense. This podcast was released on the day when after 41 years, another astronaut from India, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, went on a space journey with three other astronauts.

Sharma spent eight days in space.

Rakesh Sharma took part in a space journey jointly conducted by the then-Soviet Union in 1984 and spent eight days in space under Salute-7. This time Shubhanshu Shukla went to the International Space Station (ISS) with three other astronauts from the US, Poland, and Hungary under the Axiom Space Mission.

Learned the Russian language by spending two months before space travel

Rakesh Sharma told in his podcast that when he was selected, he was a test pilot in the Air Force. Later he retired from the Indian Air Force as a Wing Commander. He says, 'I was young, fit and qualified, so I was selected.' After this, he was given 18 months of training at Star City near Moscow. He also said that the entire training and communication in space was in Russian language, so he had to learn that language first, which was not easy. It took him about two months to learn it.

Shukla's journey was watched live by millions of people

Sharma said that his journey took place at a time when very few people had a TV. Whereas this time, Shubhanshu Shukla's journey was watched live on mobile and TV by millions of people. As soon as Shukla reached the Earth's orbit and contacted, he said, 'It was an amazing ride.'

Sunrise and sunset happen every 45 minutes in space

When Sharma was asked how he felt seeing India from space, he said, 'Very beautiful'. He praised India's diversity - beaches, valleys, forests, plains, mountains and the Himalayas. He also explained that sunrise and sunset happen every 45 minutes in space, which is a very different experience from Earth.