Air Force Pilot Almost Became 1st Indian In Space. His Take On Gaganyaan
NDTV
Air Commodore Ravish Malhotra (Retd) was selected along with Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma for India's first space mission in 1984.
Air Commodore Ravish Malhotra (Retd), who narrowly missed the spacecraft on the historic Indo-Soviet space mission in 1984, still wants to fly into space.
Mr Malhotra, 80, was selected along with Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma for India's first space mission. He was trained to fly on that mission as a backup for Mr Sharma, who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, and became the first - and still the only - Indian to travel in space.
Mr Malhotra, the unsung and possibly forgotten space hero of India, spoke to NDTV ahead of National Space Day, the first anniversary of the historic soft landing by the Indian space agency of the Vikram lander at the Shiv-Shakti Point nearer the south pole of the moon on August 23, 2023.
"If given a choice, I will fly into space, preferably on India's Gaganyaan," Mr Malhotra told NDTV.
