Chronologically arrange the following Indian-origin astronauts on the basis of their flying into space starting with the first : 1. Sunita Williams 2. Rakesh Sharma 3. Sirisha Bandla 4. Kalpana Chawla Select the correct answer using the code given below :

The chronological order of Indian-origin astronauts based on their first spaceflight is as follows: Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian citizen in space, flying aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 mission in April 1984 [3]. Kalpana Chawla became the first woman of Indian origin to travel to space in 1997 during the NASA STS-87 mission [1]. Sunita Williams followed as the second Indian-origin woman, making her first spaceflight in December 2006 on the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station [3]. Finally, Sirisha Bandla became the third Indian-origin woman to reach space in July 2021 as part of the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 suborbital flight [1]. Therefore, the correct sequence is Rakesh Sharma (1984), Kalpana Chawla (1997), Sunita Williams (2006), and Sirisha Bandla (2021), which corresponds to the order 2 - 4 - 1 - 3.

Sources

1. [1] Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 39: After Nehru... > India's Man in Space > p. 715
2. [3] https://www.hsfc.gov.in/AstronautCorner?lang=en