Reaching For the Stars

1. Kalpana Chawla, Indias first woman astronaut to go into space was born in 1961 in Karnal to Banarasi Lal Chawla and Sanjyoti. 2. She was the youngest in a family of four children. 3. Kalpana Chawla had two sisters and a brother. 4. Her fathers people had come to India from Pakistan during the riots. 5. During the partition Kalpanas parents carried with them nothing more valuable than than their innate optimism and resourcefulness. 6. Kalpana was called MONTU. 7. She spoke to India Today before the launch of the Columbia in 2003. 8. Growing up as a girl child in Karnal was full of social barriers and restrictions. 9. Kalpana went to a school that was close to her home, the Tagore Bal Niketan. 10. As it turned out to be, her school and teachers went a long way in the shaping of Kalpana, a fact that she remembered with gratitude all her life. 11. Kalpana never topped her class, but her sharp mind and diligence always kept her among the first five. 12. She learnt to drive a car when barely fourteen years old. 13. Kalpana Chawla was always fascinated by aircraft. 14. One of her teachers in her school, Ms. Daljeet Madan, recalls how the girl loved making pictures and models of airplanes in her art and craft classes. 15. She completed her pre-degree from Dayal Singh College in Karanal and engineering from Punjab Engineering College. 16. She opted to study Aeronautical engineering at PEC. 17. Her Principal and teachers at the college tried to persuade Kalpana to change her choice to the streams of Civil, Electrical or Mechanical engineering, which they believed held far better career opportunities. 18. Kalpana pursued her M.S in aerospace engineering from University of Texas at Arlington. 19. Don Wilson was her thesis guide at Arlington. 20. Most of her time at University of Texas was spent in classrooms and library.

21. In December1983, Kalpana married French-American Jean-Pierre Harrison. 22. She completed her Ph.D in 1988. 23. Kalpana Chawla joined the NASA Ames Research Center in Calfornia. 24. Kalpana became a student of the Abhinaya Dance Academy in San Jose where she learnt Bharatanatyam. 25. She was among the 122 aspiring astronauts chosen from a total of 2962 applications. 26. Eventually Kalpana Chawla became one of the nineteen candidates selected to be members of NASAs fifteenth batch of astronauts. 27. NASA center was situated Houston. 28. She was to go into space as one of the six crew members on board the Columbia shuttles STS-87 mission. 29. The purpose of the 16-day mission was mainly to conduct research on microgravity. 30. In her communication to the space center Ravi Shankars Prabhati was played. 31. Kalpanas family and friends were waiting at Cape Canaveral, were the shuttle was to land, and at her Houston home.

Vocabulary
Synonyms
1. economical: meager, frugal, thrifty 2. innate: inborn, by birth 3. reminiscences: past events 4. anecdote: an interesting past event from ones personal life 5. diligent: careful and hardwork 6. extrovert: gregarious, social

7. sway: wave, bend 8. indomitable: determined, strong, stubborn 9. finale: the grand conclusion 10. astounding: amazing, surprising 11. laurel: praiseworthy, applaud 12. vulnerable: susceptible, weak 13. surmount: overcome, triumph 14. heritage: inheritance, legacy