Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 – 1 February 2003) was an Indian-born American astronaut and aerospace engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space.

Kalpana Chawla was born on 17 March 1962 in a Punjabi Hindu family in Karnal, Haryana.

She was born into a conservative society however she broke several traditions to become the first Indian-born female astronaut.

She completed her schooling from Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal.

Growing up, Chawla went to local flying clubs and watched planes with her father.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, Chawla moved to the United States in 1982.

On 2 December 1983, Kalpana Chawla was married to Jean-Pierre Harrison at the age of 21.

After the Columbia disaster, Harrison was approached by filmmakers to make a movie on Chawla's life, but he refused because he prefers to keep their life private.

In 1984, she graduated with a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, and went on to earn a second Master's in 1986 and a PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado Boulder.

In 1988, Chawla joined NASA's Ames Research Center, where she initially conducted computational fluid dynamics research on vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) concepts.

Much of Chawla's research is included in technical journals and conference papers.

After becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 1991, she applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps.

In 1993, she joined Overset Methods, Inc. as vice president and Research Scientist specializing in simulation of moving multiple body problems.

Chawla held a Certified Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders.

Chawla joined the corps in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1997.

She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator aboard STS-87.

Chawla's first space mission began on 19 November 1997, as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87.

Chawla was the first Indian woman to go in space.

She spoke the following words while traveling in the weightlessness of space: "You are just your intelligence."

Chawla had traveled 10.67 million km, as many as 252 times around the Earth.

In 2000, Chawla 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.

Chawla's second flight was on STS-107, the final flight of Columbia, in 2003.

She was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on 1 February 2003.

Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, and several streets, universities, and institutions are named in her honor.

On 16 January 2003, Chawla finally returned to space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission.

The crew performed nearly 80 experiments studying Earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety.

Chawla died on 1 February 2003, in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, along with the other six crew members, when Columbia disintegrated over Texas during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107.

Her remains were identified along with those of the rest of the crew members and were cremated and scattered at Zion National Park in Utah in accordance with her wishes.

On her first mission, Chawla travelled 10.4/6.5 million miles in 252 orbits of the Earth, logging more than 376 hours (15 days and 16 hours) in space.

During STS-87, she was responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which malfunctioned, necessitating a spacewalk by Winston Scott and Takao Doi to capture the satellite.

A five-month NASA investigation exonerated Chawla by identifying errors in software interfaces and the defined procedures of the flight crew and ground control.

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.

During the launch of STS-107, Columbia's 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the port wing of the orbiter.

Previous shuttle launches had seen minor damage from foam shedding, but some engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious.

NASA managers limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it had been confirmed.

When Columbia re-entered the atmosphere of Earth, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart.

After the disaster, Space Shuttle flight operations were suspended for more than two years, similar to the aftermath of the Challenger disaster.

Construction of the International Space Station (ISS) was put on hold; the station relied entirely on the Russian Roscosmos State Corporation for resupply for 29 months until Shuttle flights resumed with STS-114 and 45 months for crew rotation.

Mega Icons (2018–2020), an Indian documentary television series on National Geographic about prominent Indian personalities, dedicated an episode to Chawla's achievements.