Upar se Bharat kaise Dikhta Hai?

Sending a man to space had never been on the agenda for the founders of the Indian space programme. But in 1980, the USSR approached the Indian government to ask if it would be interested in sending an Indian to space. ISRO wasn’t very keen on it but Prime Minister Indira Gandhi jumped at the offer. Two airforce pilots were chosen for the project and went through a gruelling training routine in Moscow’s Star City. Only one among them would get to be the first Indian in space though.

Show Notes

All clips and voices used in this podcast are owned by the original creators.

We thank wholeheartedly all our guests who appeared on this episode.

• Ravish Malhotra
• Mallika Sarabhai
• Rakesh Sharma’s Interviews with Astro Talk UK and Ananth Krishnan

Correction – This episode mentions the French author Jules Verne as a British author, which is incorrect. We have corrected that here in the transcript. Many thanks to our listener Vikas Niranjan for pointing this out.

References

• Chaand par Chadayee, the movie — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNPlUyu4-zs
• Rakesh Sharma’s interview with Astrotalk UK – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up_ANSNTB-U
• Rakesh Sharma’s interview with Ananth Krishnan – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt2fFJZHcX8

Full Transcript of Episode 12

The year is 1967. 

Indian astronaut Anand and his associate Bhagu have landed on the moon. But as soon as Anand and Bhagu set foot on the moon, they are kidnapped and Anand becomes a heartthrob for the lunar ladies. He falls in love with a moon princess called Shimoga. They sing, dance and even fight monsters, warriors and a moon Gorilla together. Ultimately, astronaut Anand and Bhagu emerge victorious.

What am I even talking about?

I’ve just described to you the plot of Chand Par Chadayee, a Hindi language science-fiction film, one of the earliest of its kind in Hindi cinema. Directed by TP Sundaram, Chand Par Chadayee starred Dara Singh and Helen among others and was released in 1967, just a few years after India had launched its first sounding rocket. 

Our space scientists weren’t the only ones thinking far ahead. 

Our filmmakers were one step ahead of them 🙂

I’m only partially joking by the way.

The thing with science fiction is that unlike fantasy, it does operate in a realm of possibility. For instance, French science fiction writer Jules Verne wrote about incredulous space odysseys nearly a century before humans actually managed to journey into space.

Was Chand Par Chadayee trying to hint at something too? 

After all, by 1967, India had managed to build and launch its own  rockets. Surely, it shouldn’t be too long before we send an Indian to space, right?

From ATS Studio, this is Mission I-S-R-O, a Spotify original podcast about how India reached space.

I’m Harsha Bhogle.

Recap

In the previous episode, I told you the story of how India successfully launched its first satellite launching vehicle SLV-3. After the first mission had failed in 1979, Kalam and his team fixed the flaws in the rocket and a year later, on 18th July 1980, India joined the elite club of countries that could put a satellite in orbit all by themselves.

It was a huge win for the Indian space programme. The launch of SLV-3 heralded a new era of self-reliance and indigenous capabilities. And it marked the fulfilment of the big goals that the founding fathers of the Indian space programme had set way back in the 1960s.

Celebration followed SLV-3’s success. It was a moment to savour indeed. 

But four years later, another launch would capture the imagination of crores of Indians and would go on to become the defining memory for most Indians when they think of India and space. It had very little to do with ISRO. 

What was it?

Well, here we go.

In 1967, coincidentally, the same year that Chand Par Chadayee was released in India, the USSR started an interesting space programme called Interkosmos. Through this programme the Soviets wanted to help countries that they were friendly with, in their space missions. First, they started by helping countries with their satellite programmes. But within a decade, the Interkosmos programme became famous for their joint manned space flights. Between 1979 and 1988, the Soviets helped 14 cosmonauts from different countries travel to space. It was like a free excursion and quite literally, a trip that was out of this world. 

The first country to collaborate with the USSR was what was then known as Czechoslovakia. In 1978, Vladimir Remek became the first Czech to go to space. The same year that Remek went to space, the Soviets approached the Indian government to ask if they would be interested in sending an Indian to space next. 

It was the USSR premier Leonid Brezhnev who made the offer to the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai. In his book, India’s Rise As A Space Power, UR Rao, the satellite man of India, writes that Morarji Desai wasn’t very keen to take the Soviet offer. He felt that it didn’t align with India’s space goals. 

But a few members in Desai’s cabinet were interested in it especially because of the prestige that it would bring India. The idea of an Indian in space was thrilling.

Now, as you’ve heard multiple times in this podcast, the Indian space programme’s founders did not prioritise manned space flights when they laid down the goals of the programme. Vikram Sarabhai had repeatedly said that the Indian space programme was not very interested in sending men, women or animals to space. It was more interested in harnessing space technology’s potential in national development. 

Now it’s not like manned space flights do not help in space research or experiments. It’s just that sending humans to space is far more risky and expensive. And Expensive and risky manned space flights was simply not a priority back then.

The Interkosmos mission, however, was ideal under these circumstances. The Soviets weren’t charging the Indians anything at all to participate in the mission. And India could add a feather to its cap by sending one of its own to space without expending much effort.

But we had already said no.

Interestingly, in 1980, when Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister again, General Secretary Brezhnev repeated his offer. This time, Mrs. Gandhi immediately said yes. It was a political decision that she took. She felt that an Indian in space could indeed boost the morale of the country and inspire confidence and pride in crores of Indians. 

The next big question was who would be chosen to represent India in space? And how would he be chosen?

The sequence of events here is not very clear. But here’s what we gathered from our research.

The space department reportedly told the Prime Minister that it was not interested in the exercise. Now, back in the 1980s, India did not have a training programme that could produce astronauts. The closest candidates with tangible flying experience were in the air force. So that’s where the Prime Minister went searching for ‘cosmonauts’, the term the Soviets used for astronauts.

Once, it was decided that the first Indian cosmonaut would be chosen from the airforce, Indira Gandhi reportedly telephoned Dr. Dhawan and informed him about her decision to go ahead with the Interkosmos programme. UR Rao writes that the Prime Minister also told ISRO that it should provide any assistance that the cosmonauts might require and perhaps help with the experiments that the first Indian in space would conduct.

Alright. 

Now, let’s skip two years ahead to 1982 and travel to Bangalore to the airforce campus there.

It was a regular day at work for Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra who was deputed in Bangalore to test new aircraft equipment bought by India. When suddenly, he heard that the Indian government was looking for two cosmonauts to travel to space. Those interested, could sign up for it. 

Ravish Malhotra
And that was all that we knew at that point in time. 

That’s Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra, now retired and living in Bengaluru.

That day in 1982, Malhotra immediately signed up to be selected for the Interkosmos mission without knowing anything about it. So did several others like him. All they knew was that this was a chance to go to space.

Ravish Malhotra
And naturally, you wouldn’t want to ask any questions. (laughs) You.. just want to jump at it. 

By this time, Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra had spent nearly 12 years in the Airforce. Born in Lahore four years before India became independent, Malhotra was the first in his family to join the airforce. 

And let’s just say, it was love at first… flight.

Ravish Malhotra
You know, when you’re going for flying, you are very focused, because there’s a lot of instruments in front of you in the cockpit and you get airborne and it’s a great feeling to be. In fact in in the academy itself. At the National Defence Academy, we did a little bit of flying on gliders. You know where you get the air blowing through your face, because it’s open and it gives you a fantastic thrill. And that is something what you experience the first time when you go up into the air. Although the instructor from the back is you know screaming all kinds of things! Wanting you to do this that and the other. But..Oh, it’s good fun.

What Malhotra hadn’t imagined of course was that one day, he would find himself actually considering spaceflight!

The Interkosmos mission was an unbelievable opportunity.

Ravish Malhotra
Yeah, nobody knew. I mean, nobody ever thought that, you know, this was like a windfall.

There was another airforce pilot in Bangalore at that time who was equally excited about applying for the same opportunity. And that was Squadron leader Rakesh Sharma, a Punjabi air force officer who grew up in Hyderabad. Sharma had graduated from the National Defence Academy and was commissioned as an air force pilot in 1970. By the next year, he was thrust into combat in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. He flew 21 missions in the Soviet-made MIG jet fighter. 

Like Malhotra, Sharma too hadn’t imagined that an opportunity to fly to the ultimate destination, ‘outer space’ would actually ever become available to him. In an interview to Astrotalk UK, Sharma recalled how he had followed the news of Yuri Gagarin’s voyage to space. Gagarin was the world’s first man to go to space.

Rakesh Sharma
I mean all of us were absolutely fascinated by this space flight. It was the very first time that it had happened and so much was written about it that like everybody else of my generation, we lapped up every written word and followed every spaceflight thereafter.

Naturally then, Sharma wasted no time in signing up for the job.

Back then, only the airforce knew about the Interkosmos mission. The Prime Minister was yet to make a formal announcement that India was going to send a man to space. So, it was all very hush-hush. The entire project even had a code-name, says Sharma. It was called Project Pawan. 

Once the pilots had registered their names, a list was sent to the air force headquarters in Delhi. Each person’s dossier was carefully examined and then a final list of 30 was drawn up. 

And then began a gruelling selection process – one that lasted nearly three months.

Each of these 30 pilots went through a thorough medical evaluation and a bunch of physical and psychological tests. Ravish Malhotra tells us about it.

Ravish Malhotra
You know, they had some…we, we did this disorientation training at Bangalore. And apart from that, they did a lot of psychological tests on you know, whether, whether you’re fit enough. I don’t know what the doctors were looking at, at that point in time. But definitely, very, very extensive testing that was done not only medical evaluation, but also psychological evaluation of the candidates.

Because, you know — although mind, you the flight was just less than a week, seven or seven days or something — but there are times now, when these astronauts are up there for six months, eight months at a time. And can you imagine being cooped up in a small little room for eight months? Although they do have, nowadays what they are doing is their you know, they get the families across. And each of these guys get, this thing, with the family for about 15-20 minutes once every two weeks, so that you’re, you’re in touch with life on Earth. You know, your kids want to know, how the kids are doing in school and stuff like that. Otherwise it’s it can be psychologically quite an experience.

Finally, in September 1982, out of a total of 30 candidates, four of them were shortlisted and sent to Moscow for more tests and evaluation. Both Sharma and Malhotra were part of the group of four. 

Moscow would now choose two cosmonauts for the final mission.

Why select two when only one man would get to go to space? Because any mission always requires a back-up, just in case one of them isn’t able to go at the end of all the training and preparation.

Ravish Malhotra
Once they whittled down to four of us, then we knew that we stood a good chance. And then it was luck of the draw. I mean, although further medical evaluation was done at Moscow, by their doctors. And they are the ones who decided, okay, these are the two candidates. And they gave the names to the Indian Authorities.

Moscow selected Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra and Squadron leader Rakesh Sharma as the two Indian cosmonauts for the Interkosmos mission.

Both Malhotra and Sharma were overjoyed when they heard the news of their selection. They knew that only one of them would eventually get to go to space but there was still some time before that decision was going to be made. 

Today, you and I know who the first Indian to go to space was. 

But how exactly was the choice made? 

Shortly after the news of their selection, the two soon-to-be cosmonauts went to the USSR for their two year long training. Their families  went along with them to Moscow.

None of them had any idea what was in store for them on the other side of their flight to the USSR.

As soon as they landed in Moscow, Malhotra and Sharma were taken to a closely-guarded military base with a misleadingly chirpy name: Star City.

A two and a half hour drive from Moscow, Star City had been a secret location in the USSR since the 1960s. It was a military base but it functioned like a city. It had hospitals, nurseries and schools, movie theatres and post offices. The Americans thought of it as the forbidden city – it wasn’t on maps, nor did they know what was happening there. All they knew was that cosmonauts were trained there. 

By the time Malhotra and Rakesh Sharma arrived at Star City, this mini-town had statues of Sharma’s idol Yuri Gagarin, and even Laika, the first dog to go to space. 

Ravish Malhotra
So we were both, Rakesh and myself were given flats on the same floor opposite each other. And we had a car with us that used to take us once a week into town into Moscow. Those days it used to take about an hour to drive. And I mean, we would not drive they will give us a driver, who would — some guy, I still remember his name, Ivan. And he would take us to the embassy. And we would spend the weekend out in Moscow, and then come back on Sunday evening. And, you know, back at work on Monday morning.

This wasn’t Malhotra’s first time in Russia. He had previously flown to the country to test the Mig 27, a military aircraft bought by India. But it was his first time in Star City. 

The first big task in front of the two men was to learn the Russian language. Learning Russian was important not just because they were going to spend the next two years in Star City but also because it was necessary for their mission to space.

Ravish Malhotra
See because everything in the spacecraft is, its you know, all your nomenclature, everything is in Russian. Apart from that, we had the the captain of the spaceship, then the engineer, research engineer, and then yourself. Three people. And anytime if anything, you know, any kind of emergency, it would, you know, you had to know the language – Russian.

The Soviets put the two cosmonauts on a strict diet with a mandated amount of calorie intake per day. This meant that they had to have their breakfast, lunch and dinner in Star City under the supervision of the trainers.

Ravish Malhotra
Okay, so we would get ready in the morning and walk to the the officers mess there for our breakfast. After breakfast we would, you know, go for classes. Initially, the first three months we were basically doing the Russian language, nothing but the Russian language. And then almost from day one till the day that, you know, the flight takes place, every day, you have to have physical training. That’s that’s a major part of the training programme. Why so, because you need to be absolutely fit. When you go up there, it can’t be you know, that you’re landing in 40 minutes or one hour, 30 minutes at the other end in Delhi take off from Bangalore. Here if you take off, you’re out for 10 days or you’re out for two months or three months or whatever. So you have to be absolutely fit. That is the reason why. 

After three months of learning the Russian language, the two cosmonauts then began studying the theoretical and  practical aspects of space flight.

Ravish Malhotra
When we began our training, we used to have, what do you call this- you know, classes, where all the systems were taught. All your systems, which are on the spacecraft. We had to learn about that. So we would spend the morning doing theory and have lunch. Afternoon, go back, and then sit in the spacecraft simulators and do simulator training. And at about four o’clock, you come out, you know, from two to four, you’re doing this simulator training and about four or 4.30 you come out change and you will be doing your physical training. Which would mean a kilometre or two kilometre run followed by a little bit of tennis, followed by weightlifting, followed by — now a major part of the year in Moscow, the sun doesn’t shine, you know, it’s dark. So you need to get ultraviolet light. So they, they you need to, you know, they give you these ultraviolet lights and so that, you know, instead of the sun, this is artificial ultraviolet rays that you’re supposed to stand under.

It helped that the spacecraft worked on similar principles as that of an aircraft. The only difference is that the spacecraft mostly functions autonomously. Only in case of an emergency does the cosmonaut manually  maneuver the spacecraft. 

Ravish Malhotra
You know, you have a you have a control centre on the ground and they’re they’re looking at the, the trajectory of the spacecraft. And you’re supposed to be on a particular trajectory. If you’re not, you know, when you’re, when you’re — before docking with the space station. You know, they probably will ask you to manoeuvre the spacecraft. Manoeuvring the spacecraft in space is only with the help of jets. Because there’s there’s no air there. It’s, it’s a vacuum. So it’s only with the little little jets that you either turn left or right or up or down, whatever. That’s how it is done.

Now, apart from spacecraft simulation, the two men were also trained to survive in the sea. That’s because generally, when the spacecraft returns to earth, it first splashes into the sea. 

That was not all. Malhotra and Sharma were also given training to handle zero gravity. The Soviets took them in a huge aeroplane that was padded up from the inside and empty.

Ravish Malhotra
It’s like when you go on a giant Ferris wheel. I don’t know whether you’ve been — when you’re coming from the top, as you’re coming down, you know, you’re everything, you seem to float up. And what they do is they, you know, the the aircraft picks up speed when climbs up, alright. Then, it does an over the top loop. And you get about 45 seconds of zero gravity during that period. That’s how it is done.

India and the USSR had decided that while in space the Indian cosmonaut would conduct a bunch of experiments. One of them was to see if yoga could help reduce disorientation in space.  

Now, both Malhotra and Sharma had never done yoga before in their lives. So that too was added to their list of tasks at Star City. 

As their training was coming to a close, the final launch date for the Indo-Soviet Interkosmos mission was fixed for April, 1984. 

But who would be the one to go aboard the Soviet spacecraft? Ravish Malhotra or Rakesh Sharma?

Interestingly, this wasn’t a decision taken by the trainers in Star City. It was a decision made by the Defence Ministry in India.

And they chose Rakesh Sharma. Malhotra said he never learned the  reason behind the decision.

But he was obviously disappointed with it.

Ravish Malhotra
Certainly there was disappointment. You know, you put in all this effort and God knows for whatever reason you know it was decided at Delhi. Yeah, there was disappointment but then you eventually have to accept it and carry on.

Malhotra wasn’t upset with Sharma and the two men continue to be friends even today.

In a report in India Today magazine written by journalist Raj Chengappa, General Georgi Beregovoi, the director of the training centre in Star City said that the only rivalry between the two Indians was that each wanted to be better than the other in training. 

He also said that the moment Malhotra knew that it was Sharma who was going to go to space, in a rare spirit of camaraderie, he helped Sharma train better.

For the general, Malhotra was and I quote “a 100 percent cosmonaut”. So, if the Indian government honours the space hero with a medal, both must get it, he said.

Malhotra accompanied Sharma right up till the launch day. This was also part of the programme’s protocol.

Ravish Malhotra
I mean, in fact, about 10 days before the flight, you know, both both the teams, we flew down to this place called Baikonur, that’s where they have the cosmodrome from the rocket takes off. And at that point in time you’re not in touch with your families, you’re not in touch with anybody other than a few of the technicians and the doctors. That’s all because they don’t want any kind of infection, you know, at the last point in time.

But..You train, but you train as if you are going… because in case of any kind of a glitch, you know, the standby team goes. So you’re 100% as trained as the other team.

Before the two cosmonauts left Star City to head to the final launch site, they went to Yuri Gagarin’s study and signed their names in a diary that was kept there. This was a Soviet tradition at Star City.

The two Indians also followed an Indian tradition – their wives put a tilak on their foreheads and sent them off on the most important mission of their lives. 

Now, it was time for the final launch.

3rd April 1984, started as a bright and sunny day.

The launch was scheduled for the evening at around 6.30 pm which was around 9pm in India. The entire launch site was buzzing with activity throughout the day.

Finally, as the evening arrived, the rocket was placed in position on the launchpad. The spacecraft that would take the first Indian to space was the Soyuz T-11. It was perched on top of a 14-storey tall rocket. Sharma was going to be accompanied on his maiden flight to space by two Soviet astronauts. 

At the appointed time, the astronauts took their positions inside the spacecraft. Rakesh Sharma’s space suit was custom-made with an emblem depicting the sun engraved on it.

Malhotra was in the control room. His primary responsibility was to communicate with Sharma and ensure that he was feeling alright especially during the take-off.

Soon, it was time for the final countdown

Thousands of Indians back home sat glued to their television screens to watch the live telecast of the launch. This space voyage would dominate their imagination for years to come.

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At 6.38 pm local time, a thunderous roar announced the rocket’s take-off towards space. It was a spectacular sight.

Throughout this podcast, we’ve always heard about rocket launches from the perspective of the audience and the space scientists standing  outside and at a distance from the rocket. What does it feel like to be sitting inside a rocket as it is thundering and roaring to leave the earth?

Here’s what Rakesh Sharma told Astrotalk UK.

Rakesh Sharma
The unnerving part was that you..you couldn’t see outside. So, a very important visual input was missing.

So it’s like you’re blind…and you know there’s a whole lot happening 13 storeys down. There’s noise and there’s heck a lot of vibration. Then there’s a bit of swaying and then you’re off. The thing is you’re sitting 13 storeys up close to the needle which is supposed to extract you and save you in the event of a mishap at the launch pad. The flight control system is fighting to maintain the vertical direction. So slight inputs given at that end get amplified 13 storeys above. So you don’t want to make the job any more difficult for the flight control system. So you’re like frozen, not wanting to move at all and cause a weight shift.

Nine minutes after the blast-off, when the rocket reached a height of 200 kilometres above the earth, the spacecraft that held Sharma was injected into space. 

Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma had become the first Indian to defy gravity and float miles above the earth. 

It was a historic achievement for India.

In space, Sharma’s rocket eventually docked with the Soviet space station Salyut-7 where there were two more Soviet astronauts waiting for the Interkosmos team. Sharma spent a little more than a week in space at Salyut-7. He spent most of his time conducting the experiments that he had planned to do. 

Journalist Raj Chengappa writes that during that week, Sharma also used special multi-spectral cameras to photograph more than 60 per cent of India’s area from space. This was part of an experiment that would help scientists map and study the country’s natural resources.

The photographs Sharma took would save India two years of aerial photography required to map the same area. Sharma’s cameras were so powerful that he spotted a group of mountaineers trying to climb up Mount Everest. He also spotted a huge forest fire in Burma and reported it to the Mission Control Centre – just in time.

But it wasn’t all work and no play on Salyut-7. Sharma also took some time out to listen to his favourite music, a select playlist that he had compiled on a cassette tape. He had also carried his guitar!

A day after his rocket docked with the space station, Sharma chatted with Indira Gandhi through a teleconference from space.

We’ve heard parts of this conversation at the start of this podcast. As the whole nation watched, Indira Gandhi asked Sharma many questions about his momentous space odyssey. But my favourite question was this: What did India look like from space?

Sharma framed his response beautifully

I have no hesitation in saying that India looks the best in the world, he said.

And what did space actually look like?

Sharma answered this question in 2017 at an interview with defence journalist Ananthakrishnan.

Rakesh Sharma
I was the 128th guy to go into space. So there was a lot of material already available both in the print and in the visual medium. So one was pretty much prepared for what to expect. But still, it does take your breath away when you go up there because like I was saying…there has not been a camera capable of the same acuity of your eyes you know. So what you see in real life will always have a lot more detail, texture and colour than even a 3-D photograph.

When Sharma and Malhotra returned to India after the mission, they got a hero’s welcome. Immediately, the two men went on a tour across the country giving interviews and lectures about their experiences. 

There were celebrations all around. In Bangalore, MJ Shivkumar, a head clerk told Raj Chengappa, that this felt like an Indian had won an Olympic medal.

What would Vikram Sarabhai have thought Sharma’s sojourn to space? We asked Mallika Sarabai this question.

Mallika Sarabhai
I think Papa was always delighted when new frontiers were achieved and when Indians were involved so he would have been delighted that Rakesh Sharma had gone. He wouldn’t have wanted to be the one to send Rakesh Sharma but I think he would have been very happy.

In many ways, Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma’s trip to space was a perfect crowning moment to everything that ISRO and the Indian space programme had done until then.

First, our rockets reached space, followed by our satellites and satellite launching vehicles. And even though sending a man to space hadn’t originally been on the space programme’s agenda, what Sharma’s trip did was inspire thousands of Indians to think of careers in space science and technology. 

The Indian space programme by this time was self-reliant, globally reputed and respected and indigenous. In a sense, what Sharma’s trip did was shine the spotlight on it more firmly. 

We did not send a man again to space after Sharma. But in the years that followed, we designed, built and launched some of our most advanced satellites, we conducted a lunar probe and even went around Mars. Some of our most valuable albeit unglamorous achievements have been in the applications of space technology — be it remote sensing or communications. 

For ALL of this, we have to thank the vision, resilience and the sheer audacity of our space pioneers. After all, they were the first ones to wonder — Upar Se Bharat Kaisa Dikhta Hai?

I’m Harsha Bhogle, and over the last 12 episodes, I’ve had the pleasure of narrating this fascinating story to you. 

The story however, has just begun, and we’ll be back to tell you more of it very soon. Thanks for listening!