What they earned
In memory of
Kalpana Chawla
1962 – 2003
- From
- Karnal, Haryana
- Died that day
- February 1, 2003, aged 40
- The day
- Columbia
Mission specialist and flight engineer, an aerospace engineer with a doctorate from Colorado, and the first woman born in India to fly in space.
She grew up in Karnal and used to cycle to the local flying club to watch the aircraft. Her father did not want her to fly. She took her engineering degree at Punjab Engineering College against the advice of the principal, who suggested something more suitable, came to the United States in 1982 for a master's at Texas at Arlington, and finished a doctorate at Colorado in 1988.
She was selected by NASA in 1994 and flew first on Columbia in 1997. Between the two flights she had spent thirty days, fourteen hours and fifty-four minutes in space.
Asked what it was like to look down, she said she had not seen borders.
Her ashes were scattered in Zion National Park in Utah, which she had loved.
Film
NASA in-house videography of mission control during the final minutes of descent. Loss of signal between the orbiter and mission control at about 5:15. The flight director acknowledges the contingency at 11:50.