Rakesh Sharma

Yes, we have ruined the Earth and have done an exceptionally good job of it. Yes, we should look at sustainable development. But we cannot afford to do things sequentially, but parallelly and make sure that we do not repeat our mistakes.

I hope we don't export conflict from this planet into the others. None of the paradigms that define us here on earth - the borders, the parochialism, the divide, should mar our presence in space.

In my opinion, future space exploration will require us to inhabit the moon, initially, and later Mars. This is a humongous task for any one nation to carry out.

With space exploration picking up, low-cost access to space will be required and I believe that Isro will be the go-to agency that would provide value for this kind of activity.

Space exploration has taken a tremendous technological leap. India as a developing nation has been recognized globally for how it has economized its missions, which have been comparatively low-cost compared with other countries.

Exploration of closer planets will continue. Only after he exhausts all the resources here on earth will man go further ahead, which is when interplanetary travel may take place.

There is one person who sends me three cards every year. One on New Year's, one for my birthday and the third that marks the anniversary of my flight into space.

So much had already been done in space before that, it had all been documented and there were no real surprises in store for us.

I saw my country first. Because, whoever gets up into space from whichever nationality, the first thing they do is they look out for their country. That is what I did. The Indian peninsula with the ocean on all three sides. And it was a beautiful sight.

If I were part of Gaganyaan, I could have been sure that for the next few years, there would have been a second space mission and a third space mission.

Watching sunrise and sunset from space, which is a beautiful sight, has been a personal privilege I have attained while being there. Another reflection from within I felt was that there was nothing which was neither visible and nor with a supportive environment as to how Planet Earth is.

I was the 128th human in space. So I didn't really sweat about it.