First Indian Woman Astronaut

Kalpana Chawla was

an Indian American

astronaut , space

shuttle mission

specialist and she

was one of seven

crewmembers

killed in the Space

Shuttle Columbia

disaster.

Kalpana Chawla was born

in Karnal, Haryana

graduated from Tagore

School, Karnal in 1976.

Bachelor of Science

degree in aeronautical

engineering from

Punjab Engineering

College, in 1982..

Master of Science degree

in Aerospace

engineering from

University of Texas,

1984. Doctorate of

philosophy in aerospace

engineering from

University of Colorado,

1988

In 1988, Kalpana

chawla started work at

nasa Ames research

center in the area of

powered-lift

computational fluid

dynamics. Selected by

nasa in December

1994, dr. Chawla

reported to the

Johnson space center

in march 1995.

She was selected for her first

space flight in 1996, which

began on November 19, 1997.

Kalpana chawla

thus became

the first Indian-

born woman

and the second

person of

Indian origin to

fly in space.

In January 1998, she was

assigned as crew

representative for shuttle and

station flight crew equipment,

and subsequently served as

lead for astronaut office’s

crew systems and habitability

section. she flew on sts-87

(1997) and sts-107 (2003),

logging 30 days, 14 hours and

54 minutes in space.

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.

The 16-day flight

was a

dedicated

science and

research

mission.

Working 24

hours a day, in

two alternating

shifts, the crew

successfully

conducted

approximately

80

experiments.

On January 16,

2003 Chawla finally

returned to space

aboard Columbia on

the ill-fated STS-

107 mission.

The STS-107 mission ended abruptly on February 1,

2003 when Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew

perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to scheduled

landing.

Posthumously awarded:

Congressional Space Medal of Honor

NASA Space Flight Medal

NASA Distinguished Service Medal

Defense Distinguished Service Medal (DDSM).

NASA has dedicated a super

computer to Kalpana. On

February 5, 2003, India's Prime

Minister announced that the

meteorological series of

satellites, "METSAT", will be

renamed as "KALPANA".

The first satellite of the series,

"METSAT-1", launched by India

on September 12, 2002 will be

now known as "KALPANA-1".

"KALPANA-2" is expected to be

launched by 2007.

Chawla's last visit to India was during the

1991 - 1992 new year holiday when

she and her husband spent time

with her family.

Kalpana Chawla has inspired several young Indians aspiring to be

astronauts. Her brother, Sanjay Chawla,

remarked "To me, my sister is not dead. She is immortal. Isn't that

what a star is? She is a permanent star in the sky. She will always be

up there where she belongs”

Thank you