Rakesh Sharma embarked on a historic mission on 3rd April, 1984 as part of a joint space program between the Indian

Space Research Organisation and the Soviet Intercosmos space program, and spent eight days in space aboard the Salyut 7 space station. During the flight, Sharma conducted multi-spectral photography of northern India in anticipation of the construction of hydroelectric power stations in the Himalayas. In a famous conversation, he was asked by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi how India looked from space, to which he replied, ''Main binaa jhijhak ke keh sakta hoon.., Sare Jahan Se Achcha" (a reference to an iconic poem used in India's freedom struggle, usually referred to as 'Saare jahaan se achha Hindustan haamara, ' our land of Hindustan, is the Best in the world'). He was conferred with the honour of Hero of Soviet Union upon his return from space. The Government of India conferred its highest gallantry award (during peace time), the Ashoka Chakra on him and the other two Soviet members of his mission.

Kalpana Chawlas first space mission began on November 19, 1997 as part of the sixastronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984 in a spacecraft. On her first mission Chawla traveled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space. In 2000 she was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. This mission was repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems such as the July 2002 discovery of cracks in the shuttle engine flow liners. On January 16, 2003, Chawla finally returned to space aboard Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission. Chawla's

responsibilities included the microgravity experiments, for which the crew conducted nearly 80 experiments studying earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety. Chawla died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, with the loss of all seven crew members, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107.

Sunita L. Williams was launched to the International Space Station with STS-116, aboard the shuttle Discovery, on December 9, 2006 to join the Expedition 14 crew. In April 2007, the Russian members of the crew rotated, changing to Expedition 15. Among the personal items Williams took with her to the International Space Station (ISS) were a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a small figurine of the Hindu deity Ganesha and some samosas[9] On the third spacewalk, Williams was outside the station for 6 hours 40 minutes to complete three space walks in nine days. She has logged 29 hours and 17 minutes in four space walks, eclipsing the record held by Kathryn C. Thornton for most spacewalk time by a woman. Williams served as a mission specialist with STS-117, and returned to Earth on June 22, 2007 at the end of the STS-117 mission. Space shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Edwards Air Force Base in California at 3:49 p.m. EDT, returning Williams home after a record 195-day stay in space. Chandrayan I

Chandrayan-1 was launched on 22 October 2008 at 6.22 am IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre using ISRO's 44.4 metre tall four stage PSLV launch rocket. Chandrayan-1 took 15 days to reach the lunar orbit. The mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which are being carried free of cost. The cost of this project is estimated Rs. 3.86 billion.