Chapter Notes and Summary
Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She was first Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman to go into space. Kalpana graduated from Tagore School, Karnal. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, she went to US to get a Master degree. Later she also earned her Ph.D in aerospace engineering.
Kalpana was a naturalised citizen of America, married to flight instructor Jean-Pierre Harrison. She was also licensed to fly single and multi-engine land airplanes, seaplanes and gliders.
She was selected by NASA for training as an astronaut in 1994. Her first space mission started when shuttle Columbia lifted off from launch pad at Cape Canaveral Florida on 16 January. This mission was 15 days, 16 hours and 34 minutes long. During this time she went 252 times around earth.
On February 1, 2003 shuttle met with a terrible accident killing Kalpana and all others on board. sad news of this disaster greatly shocked one and all.
The story of Kalpana Chawla has become an inspiration for millions of young Indians. In her message from aboard space shuttle, Columbia, to students of her college at Chandigarh, she said, “The path from dreams to success does exist. Only you should have capacity to find it and courage to get onto it”