Bangalore: India's first cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma on February 3 said he was thankful that the shuttle Columbia disintegrated suddenly and the astronauts did not have to suffer.

Describing the Columbia break-up as an "unfortunate accident", Sharma said, "Thankfully, it happened so suddenly. There was no time for anybody to react. They did not have to suffer."

It was unfortunate that the life of seven well-trained astronauts had come to an end in such a dramatic way, he said, but added that one expected higher levels of reliability and better safely levels, and expressed concern on that score.

Kalpana Chawla, the Indian-American who was among the seven astronauts killed in the break-up, was close to "our heart", he said, adding, he was scheduled to meet her in April during her planned visit to India.

Sharma had become the first Indian cosmonaut in 1984, when he travelled in the Russian space craft Soyuz T-11.

PTI