kalpana chawla in nasa

             Kalpana chawla at the Age of 35, kalpana applied to US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with 2,000 other candidates. In December 1994 the agency gave her ‘go ahead’. She become a naturalised US citizen and married Jean-pierre Harrison. In 1988, Kalpana Chawla started work at NASA Ames Research Centre in the area of powered-lift computational fluid dynamics. In 1993, she joined overset Methods Inc. California, as Vice President and Research Scientis to from team with other researchers specialising in simulation of moving multiple body problems. Results of various projects that kalpana participated in are documented in technical conference papers and journals.                                                                                                                                                           

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                 In November 1996, Kalpana Chawla was assigned mission specialist and prime robotic arm operation on STS-87. The flight took off for space on 19 November 1996 and returned to Earth on 5 December 1996. She was chosen for the second mission and became part of the crew that would take Columbia into space. She spent the period from 16 January to 1 February 2003 aboard STS-107 on a science and research mission-logging 30 days 36 hours and 54 minutes in space in all.                                                                                                                               The journey was successful but it ended abruptly when space shuttle Columbia re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. On the morning of 1 February 2003 as Columbia was speeding homewards and was only 16 minutes away, it was blown to bits. She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour, the NASA Space Flight Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.                                                             

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                Kalpana Chawla is a shining star amongst the Indian astronauts, but an unfortunate accident has taken Kalpana away. However, she has left a role model to all young Indians. A strong desire to travel beyond the blue, to fly into the heavens and touch the stars was all Kalpana dreamt of. Determined to the core, she finally succceded in making her vision a reality. For this first Indian-born female NASA astronaut, her castles in the air had their foundation firmly embedded in reality.                                                                                                                                Even as a child, Kalpana  Chawla showed her independent nature. When she was taken to a nearby nursery school for admission, the Principal found her pet name ‘Monto’ unacceptable. Immediately she chose ‘Kalpana’! At the age of eleven, she persuaded her father to take her to the flying club for a ride in a Pushpak. From that day onwards flying became her first love. A surprising question from this inquisitive and sensitive girl after the flight was. ‘How can people be divided into classes, sects and religions, when they all look the same from the sky?’                                                                                                                                                                                                      As she grew into a young woman, she cut her hair short and never put on any make-up. She refused to cook, never ironed her clothes, and began to wear trousers or jeans. During her elder sister’s marriage, she wore the same dress for three days, saying that it did not matter what you wear!                                                                            Indian woman astronaut was the classic care as till then no Indian woman had become an astronaut. To everybody’s surprise, Kalpana instantly exclaimed. ‘Who knows, Ma’ am, one day this set may not exist? At that juncture, nobody in the class could imagine that one day she herself would fill the set. The first shock for her parents was when she chose Engineering. Then to top it all, Kalpana Chawla opted for the Aeronautical Engineering course. Of the seven girls who joined that year, she was the only one to do so. Asked during her admission what her second option was, she replied that she had none!                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                        Image Source-Google I Image by-.sakshi                                                                                                         Douring counselling for the selection of various engineering course, the teachers also tried to dissuade her from opting for Aeronautical Engineering as it had limited job opportunities in the country.                                                                                                                                                                                     

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              She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour, the NASA Space Flight Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Kalpana Chawla’s remains were cremated and her family held a funeral in India in March. As the first Indian-born woman astronaut , she is a role model not only for the young women in her native town but also all young Indians.

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