Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, a city in the Indian state of Haryana. She was the youngest of four children of Banarasi Lal Chawla and Sanjyothi Chawla. Her father was a self-made businessman who owned a tire manufacturing company. Her mother was a homemaker who encouraged her children to pursue their education and dreams. Kalpana was fascinated by airplanes and flying from an early age. She often accompanied her father to the local flying club and watched the planes with him. She also excelled in academics and showed an aptitude for science and mathematics. Kalpana completed her schooling from Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal. She then enrolled in Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, where she earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1982. She was one of the few female students in her class and faced some discrimination and discouragement from her professors. However, she was determined to pursue her passion for aerospace engineering and decided to move to the United States for higher studies. Kalpana arrived in the United States in 1982 and enrolled in the University of Texas at Arlington, where she obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1984. She then moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned another Master's degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1988. Her doctoral thesis was on the computation of dynamics and control of unsteady vortical flows. Kalpana began her career as a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center in 1988, where she worked on various topics related to fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, and computational methods. She also became a certified pilot and obtained licenses for single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. She married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor and an aviation author, in 1983. They settled in Los Altos Hills, California. In 1991, Kalpana became a naturalized U.S. citizen and applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps. She was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1994 and underwent rigorous training for two years. She became a mission specialist and a primary robotic arm operator for the Space Shuttle program. She flew on her first space mission, STS-87, aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997. She spent 15 days in space and became the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space. Kalpana's second space mission was STS-107, also aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, in 2003. She was part of a seven-member crew that conducted more than 80 scientific experiments during the 16-day flight. However, the mission ended tragically when the shuttle disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003. All seven crew members perished in the accident. Kalpana Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the NASA Space Flight Medal. She was also honored by several institutions and organizations around the world. Several streets, schools, universities, scholarships, awards, parks, asteroids, satellites, and buildings have been named after her. She is remembered as a pioneer, a role model, and an inspiration for millions of people, especially women and girls who aspire to pursue careers in science and engineering.