Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla was an American astronaut who is the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.
| Personal Information | data |
|---|---|
| REAL NAME | Kalpana Chawla |
| Birth Date | 1 July 1961 |
| Birth Place | Karnal, Haryana, India |
| Age | 40 years |
| Death Date | 1 February 2003 |
| Death Place | Texas, United States |
| Death Cause | Space Shuttle Columbia disaster |
| Profession | Astronaut |
| Zodiac Sign | Pisces |
| Nationality | American, Indian |
| Gender | Female |
| Physical Stats | data |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 7 inches |
| Features | Black hair and black eyes |
| Family | data |
|---|---|
| Father | Banarasi Lal Chawla |
| Mother | Sanjyothi Chawla |
| Brother | Sanjay Chawla |
| Sister | Sunita Chawla, Deepa Chawla |
| Debut/Fame | data |
|---|---|
| Debut | NASA Ames Research Center (1988), NASA Group (1994) |
| Fame | STS-87 (Mission 1997), STS-107 (Mission 2003) |
| Marriages/children | data |
|---|---|
| Husband | Jean-Pierre Harrison (m. 1983-2003) |
| Education and Net Worth | data |
|---|---|
| College/University | Punjab Engineering College, India/ University of Texas at ArlingtonUniversity of Colorado Boulder |
| Qualification | Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, PhD in Aerospace Engineering |
More Information About
Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She was a mission specialist and principal robotic arm operator on the Space Shuttle Columbia for the first time in 1997. Chawla was one of seven astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003 when the ship destroyed upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. In India, she is revered as a national hero.
Chawla received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously, and she has multiple streets, universities, and institutions named after her. In Jyotisar, Kurukshetra, the Haryana government erected the Kalpana Chawla Planetarium. NASA has dedicated a supercomputer to Chawla.
Seven peaks in a series of hills known as the Columbia Hills have been named after each of the seven astronauts killed in the Columbia shuttle accident by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission. Chawla Hill, named after Chawla, is one of them.