Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla
ਕਲਪਨਾ ਚਾਵ ਲਾ
कल ् ‍प ना चाव ला

Astronaut

Status Deceased

Born March 17, 1962

Died February 1, 2003 (aged 40)

Previous occupation Research Scientist

Time in space 31d 14h 54m

Selection 1994 NASA Group

Missions STS-87, STS-107

Mission insignia

Kalpana Chawla (Hindi: कल ्‍पना चावला) (Punjabi: ਕਲਪਨਾ ਚਾਵਲਾ) (March 17, 1962 – February
1, 2003), was an Indian-American astronaut and space shuttle mission specialist. She was one of
seven crewmembers killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Early life
• 2 Education
• 3 NASA career
• 4 Personal characteristics
• 5 Awards
• 6 Memoria
• 7 External links
• 8 See also
• 9 References
• 10 Further reading

[edit] Early life

Kalpana Chawla was born in a Hindu Indian family in Karnal, Haryana, India.[1] Kalpana in
Sanskrit means "imagination of the mind" and thus also "creation." Her interest in flying was
inspired by J. R. D. Tata, a pioneering Indian pilot and industrialist.[2][3]
[edit] Education
Kalpana Chawla studied at Tagore Public School, Karnal for her earlier schooling and she
pursued further studies aeronautical engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh,
India, in 1982 where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree. She was one of the three
women in the college at the time. She moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a Master
of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington (1984).
Chawla earned a second Master of Science degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering
in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Later that year she began working for
NASA Ames Research Center as vice president of Overset Methods, Inc. where she did CFD
research on V/STOL.[2] Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders
and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multiengine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders. She
held an FCC issued Technician Class Amateur Radio license with the call sign KD5ESI. She met
and married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor and aviation writer, in 1983 and became a
naturalized United States citizen in 1990.[4]
[edit] NASA career
Chawla in the space shuttle simulator
Chawla joined the NASA astronaut corps in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in
1998. Her first space mission began on November 19, 1997 as part of the six astronaut crew that
flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the
second person of Indian origin to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in
1984 in a Soviet spacecraft. It must be noted that while Rakesh Sharma represented India,
Chawla was an American astronaut who represented the United States. Sharma and Chawla
never met despite their common interests. On her first mission Chawla travelled over 10.4
million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 360 hours in space. During STS-87,
she was responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which malfunctioned, necessitating a
spacewalk by Winston Scott and Takao Doi 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.
After the completion of STS-87 post-flight activities, Chawla was assigned to technical positions
in the astronaut office, her performance in which was recognized with a special award from her
peers.
In 2000 she was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. This mission was
repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems such as the July 2002
discovery of cracks in the shuttle engine flow liners. On January 16, 2003 Chawla finally
returned to space abroad Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission. Chawla's responsibilities
included the SPACEHAB/FREESTAR microgravity experiments, for which the crew conducted
nearly 80 experiments studying earth and space science, advanced technology development, and
astronaut health and safety.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Chawla's last visit to India was during the 1991 - 1992 new year holiday when she and her
husband spent time with her family. For various reasons, Chawla was never able to follow up on
invitations to visit India after she became an astronaut.
[edit] Personal characteristics
Chawla was a vegetarian. On her mission, she carried a white silk banner as part of a worldwide
campaign to honor teachers, as well as nearly two dozen CDs, including ones by Abida Parveen,
Yehudi Menuhin, Ravi Shankar, and Deep Purple. She went to her first rock concert, a Deep
Purple show, in 2001 with her husband. "Kalpana is not necessarily a rock music aficionado", her
husband said at a Deep Purple show, "...but (she) nevertheless characterized the show as a
'spiritual experience.'" She enjoyed birdwatching, backpacking, hiking, flying, and reading.
Quoting philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca she always said, "I was not born for one corner; the
whole world is my native land."[17]
[edit] Awards
Posthumously awarded:
• Congressional Space Medal of Honor
• NASA Space Flight Medal
• NASA Distinguished Service Medal
• Defense Distinguished Service Medal (DDSM).

[edit] Memoria
• Kalpana Chawla Memorial Scholarship program was instituted by Indian students
association (ISA) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2005 for meritorious
graduate students.[18]
• Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla, one of seven citations named after the Columbia's
crew[19]
• On February 5, 2003, India's Prime Minister announced that the meteorological series of
satellites, "METSAT", will be renamed as "KALPANA". The first satellite of the series,
"METSAT-1", launched by India on September 12, 2002 will be now known as
"KALPANA-1". "KALPANA-2" is expected to be launched by 2007.[20]
• 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City has been renamed 74th Street
Kalpana Chawla Way in her honor.
• The University of Texas at Arlington (where Chawla obtained a Master of Science degree
in Aerospace Engineering in 1984) opened a dormitory named in her honor, Kalpana
Chawla Hall, in 2004.[21]
• Kalpana Chawla Award award was instituted by the government of Karnataka in 2004 for
young women scientists[22]
• The girls hostel at Punjab Engineering College, is named after Kalpana Chawla. In
addition, an award of INR twenty five thousand, a medal, and a certificate is instituted for
the best student in Aeronautical engineering department[23]
• NASA has dedicated a super computer to Kalpana.[24]
• One of Florida Institute of Technology's student apartment complexes, Columbia Village
Suites, has halls named after each of the astronauts, including Chawla.
• NASA Mars Exploration Rover mission has named seven peaks in a chain of hills, named
the Columbia Hills, after each of the seven astronauts lost in the Columbia shuttle
disaster, including Chawla hill after Kalpana Chawla.
• Steve Morse from the band Deep Purple created a song called "Contact Lost" in memory
of the Columbia tragedy along with her interest in the band. The song can be found on the
album Bananas.[25]
• Kalpana Chawla has inspired several young Indians aspiring to be astronauts.[26]
• Her brother, Sanjay Chawla, remarked "To me, my sister is not dead. She is immortal.
Isn't that what a star is? She is a permanent star in the sky. She will always be up there
where she belongs."[27]
• Novelist Peter David named a shuttlecraft, the Chawla, after the astronaut in his 2007
Star Trek novel, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Before Dishonor.[28]