NRI PROFILE
Kalpana Chawla Honoring the woman who shot for the stars and landed on the moon.
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Kalpana Chawla was an IndianAmerican astronaut, an engineer and more importantly, the first woman of an Indian origin to go to space. In 1997, she flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm. In 2003, she was one out of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its entry back into the Earth’s atmosphere. There are multiple streets, universities and institutions across the world named in her honor. She is considered a national hero in India and worldwide.
Early life: Kalpana was born on 17 March 1962 in Haryana. But she changed her date of birth to 1 July 1961 in order to become eligible for her matriculation exam. Since a child, she was always fascinated by airplanes and flying. She would always watch planes with her father at clubs. She got her bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
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She moved to the United States in 1982 where she got her master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Teas in 1984.
Personal life: Kalpana was married to Jean Pierre Harrison. She was Indian citizen till 1991. In 1991 she became an American citizen. She was 40 years old when she passed away. She was always very devoted to space and flying.
Career: Her first space mission began on 19 November 1997. She was a part of a six-crew astronaut team that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight. She traveled 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits around the earth. She was in space for 15 days and 12 hours. She was responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which however malfunctioned. After this trip, she was assigned to technical positions in the astronaut office to work on the space station.
