Kalpana Chawla was an Indian American astronaut and the first woman of Indian origin in space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Early Life of Kaplana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962. Her official date of birth was altered to 1 July 1961 to allow her to join school underage. While other children of her age dressed their Barbie dolls, Kalpana liked to draw pictures of airplanes. She was not always the top student in her class but had a very inquisitive mind. After getting a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh she moved to the United States in 1982 where she obtained the Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984.
In 1997, she became the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in space.
Her first flight was on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. The mission began on November 19, 1997, and Kalpana was a part of a six-astronaut crew.On her first mission, Chawla traveled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space.During STS-87, she was responsible for deploying the Spartan satellite which malfunctioned, necessitating a spacewalk by Winston Scottand Takao Do Her to capture the satellite. A five-month NASA investigation fully exonerated Chawla by identifying errors in software interfaces and the defined procedures of flight crew and ground control Last ride to spa
Her last ride to space
In 2000, Kalpana was selected for her second flight as a part of the crew of STS-107. The mission got repeatedly delayed and was finally launched in 2003.
Chawla died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster which occurred on February 1, 2003
When the Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into, the Earth's atmosphere with the death of all of seven crew members, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107. Just 16 minutes before landing, the space shuttle burnt and disintegrated, killing all on board. This accident was believed to be caused by a damaged aluminium heat-insulating tile on the left wing of the shuttle. This caused the whole body of the shuttle to heat up, eventually burning it.
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