New Delhi: Today is Kalpana Chawla’s birthday. The first Indian woman in space, astronaut Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1961.
Remembering #KalpanaChawla On Her Birth Anniversary. First Indian Woman To Go To Space. An Inspiration To Billions Across The Globe #MissYou pic.twitter.com/BBAR70H1WF
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) March 17, 2017
Tributes to #KalpanaChawla on her birth anniversary. Always an inspiration and symbol of courage and strength. pic.twitter.com/MYMbHjI8YM
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 17, 2017
* Kalpana was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, Haryana
* She acquired her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh in 1982.
* In 1982, she moved to the United States for higher studies. There, she obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984.
* In 1988, she began working at the NASA Ames Research Center, where she did Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research on Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing concepts
* In 1997, Kalpana first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 as a mission specialist.
* Kalpana was the first Indian-American astronaut and the first India-born woman in space.
* She got married to Jean-Pierre Harrison in 1983, who was a flying instructor and an aviation author.
* She was certified with a commercial pilot license for the seaplanes, multi engine air place and glider. She also was a Certificated Flight Instructor for glider and airplanes.
* On her first mission, Kalpana travelled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space.
* In the year, 2000, Kalpana was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. The mission got repeatedly delayed and Kalpana returned to space on January 16, 2003.
* On February 1, same year, Kalpana Chawla died along with all six other crew members in the Space Shuttle Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission.
*Shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to the death of all the seven crew members.
