Kalpana Chawla Research Center

*Kalpana Chawla* 🚀

*Born*: March 17, 1962, Karnal, Haryana, India  
*Died*: February 1, 2003, over Texas, USA – age 40

She was the *first woman of Indian origin in space* and a NASA astronaut.

### *1. Early Life & Education*
- *Hometown*: Karnal, Haryana. The family name was “Montu” – she picked “Chawla” herself.
- *Schooling*: Tagore Baal Niketan, Karnal. Was fascinated by planes and visited local flying clubs as a kid.
- *College*: http://B.Tech in Aeronautical Engineering, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, 1982. Only woman in her batch.
- *USA*: Moved for MS in Aerospace Engineering, University of Texas Arlington, 1984. Then PhD, University of Colorado Boulder, 1988.
- *Citizenship*: Became a naturalized US citizen in 1991 to join NASA.

### *2. NASA Career*
- *Started*: 1988 at NASA Ames Research Center – worked on computational fluid dynamics, airflows around aircraft.
- *Astronaut*: Selected by NASA Astronaut Corps in Dec 1994. Reported to Johnson Space Center 1995.

*Space Missions*: 2 total, 30 days 14 hours 54 minutes in space

*A. STS-87 Columbia – Nov 19 to Dec 5, 1997*
- *Role*: Mission Specialist + Primary Robotic Arm Operator
- *Mission*: Deployed Spartan satellite, experiments in microgravity, spacewalks by others
- *Historic*: First Indian-born woman in space, second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma 1984
- *Orbit*: 252 orbits, 6.5 million miles, 15.5 days

*B. STS-107 Columbia – Jan 16 to Feb 1, 2003*
- *Role*: Mission Specialist + Flight Engineer
- *Mission*: 80+ science experiments in space, earth, life sciences
- *Tragedy*: Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas on Feb 1, 2003. A piece of foam insulation hit the left wing during launch, damaged heat shield. All 7 crew members died just 16 minutes before landing.

### *3. Legacy & Honors*
- *Awards*: Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Space Flight Medal. All awarded posthumously.
- *Named after her*: 
    - *Kalpana Chawla Planetarium*, Kurukshetra + Jyotisar
    - *Kalpana Chawla Govt Medical College*, Karnal
    - *Asteroid 51826 Kalpana Chawla*
    - *Kalpana Chawla Hill* on Mars
    - *Cygnus spacecraft* NG-14 named _S.S. Kalpana Chawla_ 2020
    - *Streets/schools* across India + USA
- *India*: Inspired a generation of girls into STEM. Her life is in school textbooks.

### *4. Personal*
- *Married*: Jean-Pierre Harrison, flight instructor, 1983
- *Hobbies*: Flying, hiking, backpacking, reading. Certified flight instructor + commercial pilot with single/multi-engine airplane, seaplane, glider ratings.
- *Famous quote*: _“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”_

She’s remembered for breaking barriers and showing that space was possible for Indian women. Her hometown Malerkotla is ∼100 km from Karnal where she grew up.

Want to know more about STS-107, the Columbia accident report, or how to visit the planetarium in Haryana?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shree Ram Mandir Ayodhya

Image
Interesting details of the recently constructed Shree Ram Mandir in Ayodhya No taxpayer's money is involved. It is fully financed through public donations of about 5000 crores and counting. Some particulars about the temple construction: Chief Architects: Chandrakant Sompura, Nikhil Sompura, and Ashish Sompura. Design Advisors: IIT Guwahati, IIT Chennai, IIT Bombay, NIT Surat, Central Building Research Institute Roorkee, National Geo Research Institute Hyderabad, and the National Institute of Rock Mechanics. Construction Company: Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Project. Management Company: Tata Consulting Engineers Limited (TCEL) Sculptors: Arun Yogiraaj (Mysore), Ganesh Bhatt, and Satyanarayan Pandey Total Area: 70 acres (70% green area) Temple Area: 2.77 acres Temple Dimensions: Length: 380 ft. Width: 250 ft. Height: 161 ft. Architectural Style: Indian Nagar Style. Architectural Highlights: 3 storeys (floors), 392 pillars, 44 doors. Now let's see how the t...
Read more

Introduction of Kainth Consultants

Image
Kainth Consultants Startup Business Service simplifies the Application, Registration, and Certifications process by connecting national and international professional service providers. We ensure that you are applying to the educational institution that best fits your profile and that your application is complete.  Kainth Consultants Tailormade Uniforms Supplier in Govt. and Private Organizations i.e. Schools, Collage, Institute, Academy, Business Complex, Automobiles Showrooms, Hotel, Hospitals, Salon, Spa, Pool, Club Staff. WHAT WE DO We provide recruitment and talent acquisition services on a national level, by utilizing our expertise in industry and talent acquisition. Driven by the passion to excel and fulfilling the single objective of serving our clients, we are committed to delivering quality in every element of our headhunting and sourcing competence. We work on the philosophy of executing each task diligently and motivating our employees to think “out-of-the-box”. This ph...
Read more