An Indian American Woman in Space: Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman to go into space.
She was born in Karnal Haryana, India , on 17 March 1962
Chawla completed her earlier schooling at Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School , Karnal .
Dr. Kalpana Chawla, graduated from Aerospace Engineering Department of PEC in 1982, with Bachelor of Engineering degree.
She Obtained Master’s Degree in Aerospace engineering in 1984.
Dr. Chawla, selected by NASA in December 1994, reported to Johnson Space Center in March 1995.
Apart from being an astronaut, Kalpana Chawla was given a license to fly Single and multi-engine land airplanes, single-engine seaplanes and gliders.
She was astronaut on space shuttle Columbia to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
She was an astronaut and engineer selected to be part of the Space Shuttle Columbia team, which flew to space in 1997 as a robotic specialist.
After 16 days in space, the shuttle was gliding back to land in Florida when it broke apart due to unintentional wing damage during launch.
In 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia spacecraft crashed while returning to Earth. Chawla was among the crew members killed in the accident.
NASA now lends specific components of Columbia’s to researchers and academic institutions for analysis to Make Space Travel Safer
She was regarded as a national hero in India.
Universities, institutions and roads were named after her.
Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA Space Flight Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Recently NASA named the Cygnus spacecraft after the late NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
As an Indian Woman She is a role model not only for women in India but around the world, also for anyone who dreams of becoming an astronaut.
