Our First Astronaut Wing Commander – Rakesh Sharma Ac (Retd)

In the calm environs of Coimbatore, Air Marshal Sarak Nair had a tete-a-tete with our space hero. Now that India is planning a manned mission to space, and since the next astronauts are being trained, it is apt for us to hear the intricacies of space flights from him.

Space flight is one of the most challenging assignments in the world, and requires specialized and extensive training and preparation. Can you tell us something about the training you did in Russia?

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Air Marshal SRK Nair, PVSM, AVSM, VM,
M-in-D (Retd) was commissioned into the transport fleet of the
IAF in June 1980. He has flown several types of transport
aircraft and logged over 7200 hours of flying. He is an
accomplished pilot with several operational achievements to his
credit, like pioneering a flight to the North Pole in an IL -76 in
2013, the first Indian aircraft to do so, playing a pivotal role in
initiating night operations to Leh and Thoise by IL-76 aircraft
and operationalizing Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), the highest
airstrip in the world, for AN-32 and C -130 Super Hercules.
He retired as AOC -in -C Training Command in 2018.