New Delhi: Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She was the first Indian-American astronautand first Indian woman in space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic armoperator. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She completed her earlier schooling at Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal and completed her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Punjab Engineering College at Chandigarhin 1982.
She moved to the United States in 1982 where she obtained a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984. Determined to become an astronaut even in the face of the Challenger disaster, Chawla went on to earn a second Masters in 1986 and a PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 1991, Chawla applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps. She joined the Corps in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1996. She spoke the following words while traveling in the weightlessness of space, “You are just your intelligence”. She had traveled 10.67 million km, as many as 252 times around the Earth.
Her first space mission began on November 19, 1997, as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flightSTS-87. Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharmawho flew in 1984 on the Soyuz T-11.
After the completion of STS-87 post-flight activities, Chawla was assigned to technical positions in the astronaut office to work on the space station, her performance in which was recognized with a special award from her peers.
In 2000 she was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. This mission was repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems such as the July 2002 discovery of cracks in the shuttle engine flow liners.
On January 16, 2003, Chawla finally returned to space aboard Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission. Chawla’s responsibilities included the microgravityexperiments, for which the crew conducted nearly 80 experiments studying earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety
Chawla died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which occurred on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, with the death of all seven crew members, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107.
Bureau Report
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