Aero Medical Unit was moved to Air Force School of Aviation Medicine at Bangalore and its Mobile Decompression Chamber was utilized for training, research and evaluation activities at the school In 1968, the School was re-designated as Institute of Aviation Medicine because of its widened role and contribution. The crest of the Institute depicts a torch of knowledge with the IAF wing and a snake entwined on the torch handle. The motto, Nabhase Arogyam means freedom from disease in the sky. Advanced aeromedical equipment and simulators were developed / procured to keep pace with the modern developments in the field of Aerospace Medicine. The first of which was the Explosive Decompression Chamber (EDC) which was installed in 1963, followed by Human Centrifuge and Hyperbaric chamber in 1966-67. Simulators like hot cockpit, dry floation tank, and universal cockpit were subsequently indigeniously designed.In 1982, IAM took a giant leap towards the medical support of manned space flight. This task named "Project Pawan", involved comprehensive medical evaluation selection and training of potential cosmonauts. The Institute was also integra involved in designing physiological experiments that were conducted in space wh Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian cosmonaut. In 1985, med evaluation of payload specialists for the proposed Indo Ameri American Space program was also entrusted to the Institute. The quality and standard of work have been recognized by the USSR and USA and both the countries accepted JAM authorized center for carrying out medical evaluation and selection of candidates for space flights. IAM was accepted in 1986 as a center for joint research studies with the Soviet Union as pat of international co-operation. In view of the forays of the Institute in the realm of Space, it was rechristened as the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in 1989. In 1997, the Institute was affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore. In recognition of the various achievements, the Presidential Colour was awarded to this prestigious Institute on 21 Nov 2005. The Institute has the distinctive honour of being the first independent medical unit of the Armed Forces to be awarded the Presidential Colour.