KOCHI: Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel to space, has been selected for the Vikram Sarabhai Vigyan Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the nation.
The award will be presented by Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at a function to be held at Pragati Academy in Perumbavoor on March 24.
Instituted by the Vikram Sarabhai Science Foundation (VSSF), headquartered in Kochi, the award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a citation, and a plaque.
The awardee was selected by a committee comprising G. Madhavan Nair, former state chief secretary V. P. Joy, Dr Subramania Iyer, head of the Head and Neck Surgery Department at Amrita Hospital, Kochi, and Indira Rajan, CEO of VSSF.
The inaugural award was presented to S. Somanath. An officer of the Indian Air Force, Sharma, travelled to space on April 2, 1984, aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11.
He spent eight days aboard the Salyut 7 space station.
Born in Patiala, Punjab, Sharma was serving as a squadron leader in the Air Force when he was selected for the historic mission. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he flew 21 combat sorties in a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter aircraft.
He later retired with the rank of Wing Commander and was honoured with the Ashoka Chakra.
The Vikram Sarabhai Science Foundation, with centres in Kochi and Kakkanad, was founded in 2011 by former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.