Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana, India on March 17th, 1962 and is the Astronaut. At the age of 40, Kalpana Chawla biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Kalpana Chawla (March 17, 1962-2003), an American explorer, engineer, and the first woman to go to space.
She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.
Chawla was one of seven crew members of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003 when the spacecraft crashed during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Chawla was given the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously, and many streets, colleges, and institutions have been honoured in her honor.
In India, the late astronaut is regarded as a national hero.
During a 336-hour space mission, she was in orbit for 336 hours.
Early life and education
Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana, on March 17th. She completed her education from Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal. She and her father went to local flying clubs and watched planes together. Her date of birth had been postponed by her family until July 1st, 1961, in order to qualify for the matriculation exam. She earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, and then moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Chawla obtained a second Masters degree in 1986 and a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Personal life
Kalpana Chawla was married to Jean-Pierre Harrison at the age of 21 on December 2nd, 1983. Harrison was approached by filmmakers to film a film about Kalpana's life, but he declined because they prefer to keep their personal information private. Harrison has since remarried and has a young son. In Los Gatos, California, he owns a publishing business.
Career
Chawla began working at NASA Ames Research Center in 1988, where she conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies on vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) designs. A substantial portion of Chawla's research has been published in academic journals and conference papers. She joined Overset Methods, Inc. in 1993 as vice president and Research Scientist, specializing in simulation of moving multiple body systems. For single and multi-engine planes, seaplanes, and gliders, Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor license for planes, gliders, and Commercial Pilot licenses. Chawla applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps after becoming a naturalized American citizen in April 1991. She joined the corps in March 1995 and was chosen for her first flight in 1997.
On November 19, 1997, she first space mission as part of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew that flowed the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian woman to fly in space. "You are just your intelligence," she said while traveling in space. She had travelled 10.67 million kilometers, as many as 252 times around the world. Chawla's first mission was on a 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 376 hours (15 days and 16 hours) in space. She was responsible for the launch of the Spartan Satellite, which caused Winston Scott and Takao Doi's spacewalk to capture the satellite during STS-87. A five-month NASA probe cleared Chawla by identifying flaws in the flight crew and ground control's software interfaces and the established protocols. Chawla was sent to technical positions in the astronaut office after the completion of STS-87 post-flight duties to work on the space station.
Chawla was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107 in 2001. This mission was repeatedly postponed due to scheduling conflicts and technical difficulties, such as the finding of cracks in the shuttle engine flow liners in July 2002. Chawla returned to space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on January 16, 2003, on the ill-fated STS-107 mission. The crew carried out almost 80 experiments investigating Earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety.
A piece of foam insulation fell off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the orbiter's port wing during Columbia's 28th mission. Foam shedding had minor effects on previous shuttle launches, but some scientists suspected that Columbia's injuries was much more severe. The probe was limited by NASA, who claimed that the crew may not have found the issue if it hadn't been announced.
As Columbia returned to Earth's atmosphere, hot atmospheric gases penetrated and destroyed the internal wing structure, causing the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart. Following the disaster, Space Shuttle operations have been postponed for more than two years, much like the aftermath of the Challenger tragedy. The International Space Station (ISS)'s construction was suspended; the station was completely dependent on the Russian Roscosmos State Corporation for resupply for 29 months before Shuttle flights were revived with STS-114 and 41 months for crew rotation.
Chawla died on February 1, 2003, along with the other six Columbia crew members, when Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere just before it was scheduled to end its 28th mission, STS-107. Her remains were identified along with those of the crew members' family members, and they were cremated and scattered at Zion National Park in Utah in accordance with her wishes.