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SPACE RIDE: Besides Rakesh Sharma and before Shubhanshu Shulka

The first Chinese astronaut (called taikonaut by the Chinese) was Col.Yang Liwei sent into space by the Chinese space program in October 2003. This mission, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country to independently send humans into space. In all 42 countries, including Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Denmark, Malta, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Mexico and Cuba have sent astronauts/ cosmonauts to space. Besides Rakesh Sharma and before Shubhanshu Shulka several other Indians have been in space. 

These are -

Kalpana Chawla:
The first woman of Indian origin in space, she flew on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-87 and STS-107. She tragically died in the Columbia disaster in 2003. 

Sunita Williams:
A NASA astronaut, she has flown on two long-duration missions to the International Space Station and holds records for spacewalks and spacewalk time by a woman. 

Raja Chari:
An Indian-American astronaut, he commanded SpaceX Crew-3 and was selected for NASA's Artemis program. 

Sirisha Bandla:
An Indian-American aerospace engineer, she became the third Indian-origin woman in space during the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission. 

Gopi Thotakura:
India's first space tourist is Gopichand Thotakura. He traveled to space as part of the Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-25 mission. He is also the second Indian citizen to travel to space, following Rakesh Sharma. The Vijayawada born Thotakura is an entrepreneur and aeronautical engineer.

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