Kalpana Chawla Education, Family, Biography, Early Life, Birthday
Wiki/ Bio
The first woman of Indian descent to travel into space was Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-American astronaut. People all throughout the world are still inspired by her life and accomplishments. Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, a tiny town in Haryana, India. Her early years were characterized by her intense interest in mathematics and science.
Childhood
On March 17, 1962, Kalpana Chawla—the first woman of Indian descent to travel into space—was born in Karnal, Haryana. She grew up with her father watching airplanes, and she graduated from Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School in Karnal.
Education
Chawla attended Punjab Engineering College in India to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering after completing her education. She later relocated to the US in 1982 to pursue her education, and in 1984 she graduated with a master's in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Chawla graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a second master's degree in 1986 and a doctorate in aeronautical engineering in 1988.
Chawla began her career in 1988 at NASA Ames Research Center, where she worked on computational fluid dynamics of concepts for vertical and/or short takeoff and landing. She then joined Overset Methods, Inc. Chawla was hired as a research scientist and vice president in 1993.She also held commercial pilot licenses for seaplanes, gliders, and single and multi-engine aircraft in addition to being a Certified Flight Instructor for gliders and airplanes.
After becoming a naturalized U.S. Chawla applied to be a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps in April 1991 and was accepted in March 1995. As a member of the six-astronaut crew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia voyage STS-87 in 1997, she made her first flight. Chawla spent more time in space than any other astronaut, completing 252 orbits of the planet and traveling 10.4 million miles (6.5 million kilometers).
An Accident and a Second Space Mission
On STS-107, the last flight of Columbia, in 2003, Chawla completed his second space mission. In February 2003, during the space shuttle Columbia's re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, it broke apart, killing seven crew members, including her. Chawla went the equivalent of 252 times around the Earth, traveling 10.67 million kilometers.
Family
At the age of 21, Kalpana Chawla wed Jean-Pierre Harrison on December 2, 1983. Film producers approached Harrison to document Kalpana's life following the Columbia tragedy, but he turned them down since he wanted to keep his wife's memory a private one.
In summary, Kalpana Chawla was a trailblazing astronaut and aerospace engineer who, as the first woman of Indian descent to travel to space, broke down barriers. Her legacy continues to inspire people all across the world, and she made substantial contributions to the discipline of aeronautics.