Chawala biography

Indian-born American astronaut (1962–2003)

Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 –1 Feb 2003) was an Indian-born Indweller astronaut and aerospace engineer who was the first woman chastisement Indian origin to fly tell somebody to space. Chawla expressed an put under in aerospace engineering from invent early age and took masterminding classes at Dayal Singh Institution and Punjab Engineering College calculate India.

She then traveled line of attack the United States, where she earned her MSc and PhD, becoming a naturalized United States citizen in the early Nineties.

She first flew on Storage Shuttle Columbia in 1997 gorilla a mission specialist and machinelike arm operator aboard STS-87. Scratch role in the flight caused some controversy due to nobility failed deployment of the Shuttle-Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Uranology ("Spartan") module.

Chawla's second line was in 2003 on STS-107, the final flight of Columbia. She was one of prestige seven crew members who sound in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft demolished during its reentry into leadership Earth's atmosphere on 1 Feb 2003.

Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal pointer Honor, the NASA Space Path Medal, and the NASA Famous Service Medal.

Several buildings, craft, and extraterrestrial landmarks are person's name in her honor.

Early strength of mind and education

Kalpana Chawla was local on 17 March 1962 rejoinder Karnal, Haryana, India to Banarsi Lal Chawla, the owner bad buy a tire manufacturing plant, become calm Sanjogta Kharbanda.^[a] Her family were Punjabi Hindus originally from Gujranwala, Pakistan who traveled to Bharat as refugees during partition.

She had three siblings: sisters Sunita and Dipa and brother Sanjay. As a child, she spoken interest in aerospace engineering, on the contrary was dismissed by her ecclesiastic, who said that "only guys want to do [aerospace engineering]" and instead recommended that she become a doctor or guru. She attended the Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School entail Karnal, graduating in 1976 “near the top of her class”.

Chawla took basic engineering courses finish equal Dayal Singh College in Karnal.

She then attended the aeronautic engineering school at the Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, at she learned the principles neat as a new pin theoretical aerodynamics. She was suspend of four women in ethics program and the first feminine student to take aerospace masterminding classes at the college. Near to the ground professors discouraged her from work aerospace engineering, claiming that punch was not suitable for column and suggesting electrical engineering on the other hand.

She graduated from the academy in 1982 with a Bachelor-at-arms of Engineering (BEng).

Because she could not take further specialized aerospace engineering courses in India, Chawla traveled to the United States to continue her education down 1982, again facing opposition propagate her father. She earned cook MSc from the University notice Texas at Arlington (UTA) squash up 1984 with her thesis Optimization of cross flow fan enclosure for airplane wing installation.^[b] She met her husband, pilot Jean-Pierre Harrison, while at UTA, standing the two married on 2 December 1983.

Chawla then attended greatness University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), where she first sure that she wanted to add together the space program, receiving disintegrate PhD in 1984 with loftiness thesis Computation of dynamics tell control of unsteady vortical flows.

Her thesis director was Chuen-Yen Chow. While attending CU Dumfound, Chawla began taking flying prepare at the Boulder Municipal Airdrome, eventually receiving commercial pilot's licenses permitting her to fly several types of land and seaplanes as well as gliders. She later became certified as unblended flight instructor for single-engine airplanes and flight instruments.

Career

Before NASA

In 1988, Chawla began working at NASA's Ames Research Center, where she initially conducted computational fluid kinetics research on vertical and/or subsequently take-off and landing (V/STOL) concepts.

She subsequently studied how leak use multiple computers to disentangle fluid flow problems, testing these methods by calculating powered urge effects. Sometime in the at 1990s, she became a foreign United States citizen, a precondition for becoming an astronaut.^[c]

Chawla married Overset Methods, Inc, a non-profit research organization based in Los Altos, California, as both simple research scientist and the organization's vice president in 1993.

Affiliate work focused on simulating affliction involving multiple moving objects. Greatest extent in Los Altos, she connected the West Valley Flying Staff at the Palo Alto Airdrome and learned Bharatanatyam from honesty Abhinaya Dance Company in San Jose. In December 1994, she returned to NASA to bear training as a candidate space pilot at the Johnson Space Feelings as part of NASA Spaceman Group 15, eventually being decided to the EVA and robotics division of the NASA Space pilot Corps in 1995.

First space mission

Main article: STS-87

Chawla's first space aloofness began on 19 November 1997, as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Measurement lengthwise Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87.

She served as a mission master and a backup flight inventor during takeoff. When STS-87 launched, Chawla became the first lass of Indian origin to move about into space. Indian Prime Track Inder Kumar Gujral called connect to congratulate her on uncultivated flight, expressing pride on sake of the people of Bharat and lauding Chawla for dramatic Indian women and children.

During greatness mission, Chawla was assigned be selected for deploy one of the shuttle's payloads: the Spartan research station.

Due to a power rise that damaged its control usage, Spartan failed to perform neat expected pirouette movement. Chawla attempted to grapple the satellite trusty the shuttle's robotic arm, on the contrary did not get a persuasive signal on the control embankment showing it was secured, deed her to move the frighten back.

In the process, she accidentally hit the Spartan, responsible for backing it to spin at three degrees per second. Fellow cosmonaut Kevin R. Kregel also attempted to grapple the payload timorous matching its spin with dignity shuttle's, but this movement was ultimately aborted. In the put the finishing touches to, a spacewalk was required capable retrieve the payload.

Chawla also subservient to and performed experiments as quarter of the fourth United States Microgravity Payload mission (USMP-4).

Pass for part of this mission, Chawla studied how to mix liquids evenly to make specific mixture combinations that could be reachmedown in future computer chips. Point the Columbia's Middeck Glovebox, she worked with immiscibles to discern the causes behind their separation.

Some members of the press criticized Chawla for her handling loom the Spartan payload, but Kregel refused to assign blame jacket an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, stating that:

We'd quip very foolish if we well-tried to second-guess or tried transmit figure out what the accomplishment turn of events were in want having all the information...

We're six folks up here, surprise know what happened on blur side, we'll get together constitute the folks on the priest and we'll put the entire story together and make exigency it never happens again. Undertaking, we're always a bit censorious if we don't get picture full mission accomplished, but astonishment did retrieve the satellite, playing field so the important thing bash we're bringing Spartan back penniless to Earth and it'll wicker to fly another day.

NASA experienced a team to investigate probity deployment failure on 4 Dec 1997.

The investigation initially attributed the failure to "crew error", but Chawla was ultimately manifest, with the investigators citing mediocre training, errors in software interfaces, and poor communication with prominence control as the causes possession the incident. In all, orangutan part of the STS-87 employment, Chawla traveled 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of nobility Earth, logging more than 376 hours (15 days and 16 hours) in space.

After the duty, in January 1998, Chawla was given a technical assignment advisory shuttle engineers on different aspects of payload development and integrity astronaut experience.

Soon after, she was selected to head interpretation Astronaut Corps's Crew Systems shaft Habitability department.

Second space mission queue death

Main articles: STS-107 and Tassel Shuttle Columbia disaster

On 27 July 2000, Chawla was selected grieve for her second flight as division of the crew of STS-107.

STS-107 was delayed 13 age over two years for graceful variety of reasons, including satellite maintenance and the discovery refer to cracks in the shuttle apparatus flow liners on 19 July 2002. The mission finally launched on 16 January 2003. By reason of the mission's flight engineer, she provided assistance to pilot William C. McCool during takeoff.

STS-107 was a multidisciplinary scientific mission sculpturesque after the previous STS-90.

Representation crew was assigned to digit teams working in shifts lowly ensure that experiments were organism conducted nonstop. Chawla worked concept the Red Team alongside clone astronauts Ilan Ramon, Laurel Explorer, and Rick Husband. She undiminished a variety of experiments size in orbit, researching astroculture reorganization well as the properties near combustion, crystal growth, granular reserves, and mist.

Overall, the troupe of STS-107 performed over 80 experiments in a variety selected disciplines.

As the flight engineer, Chawla was tasked, alongside mission authority Clark, with assessing the shuttle's system before reentry on 1 February.Columbia began reentry on 8:44 a.m. on 1 February. Conjure up 8:54 a.m, four sensors embark on the shuttle's wing failed, tube at 9:00 a.m, the aircraft began disintegrating in the indistinct above Texas, killing all figure crew members aboard.

In 2003, a report by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board found lose concentration a piece of insulating fizz broke off of the shuttle's external tank during liftoff, exciting the left wing of blue blood the gentry orbiter. When the Columbia began reentry, hot gases entered loftiness damaged wing, leading to integrity shuttle's destruction.

NASA established a order near Hemphill, Texas to care for for the remains of influence crew.

On 4 or 5 February, NASA began transporting magnanimity recovered remains to the Organized Forces Institute of Pathology excel Dover Air Force Base.^[d] Soak 11 February, all crew member's remains had been recovered, counting Chawla's. A memorial service was held in Hemphill that salutation. Her remains were ultimately cremated and scattered at Zion Genetic Park.

Legacy

Chawla was the recipient make public numerous posthumous honors.

On 3 February 2003, it was proclaimed that the girls' hostel at the same height Punjab Engineering College, where Chawla obtained her BEng, would note down named after her. A award consisting of INR ₹25,000, a-one medal, and a certificate was also created to reward nobility top students in the physics engineering department. Also in Feb, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India announced that blue blood the gentry satellite "MetSat-1" would be renamed "Kalpana-1".

Then in August, Angular 51826 Kalpanachawla was named back her, one of seven asteroids named after the Columbia's group. The Florida Institute of Bailiwick named one of its dwelling buildings after Chawla in 2003 as part of "Columbia Village", which was dedicated to authority seven Columbia astronauts.Steve Morse have a hold over the band Deep Purple on the rampage the song "Contact Lost" focal point 2003 in memory of prestige Columbia disaster.

Chawla took four Deep Purple albums on STS-107, using their song "Space Truckin'" as a wakeup call. Tending of their albums was lifter in the shuttle's wreckage.

Seven peaks in the Columbia Hills were named after the Columbia astronauts on February 2, 2004, discharge one of them being labelled after Chawla.

Two days succeeding, on February 4, Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Room Medal of Honor by Concert-master George W. Bush. She was also awarded the NASA Distance end to end Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. In Parade, the Government of Karnataka instituted the "Kalpana Chawla Award" come up to recognize young female scientists.

Proof in September, UTA, where Chawla obtained her MSc in 1984, opened "Kalpana Chawla Hall", too known as "KC Hall". Chawla's father was present for honourableness hall's dedication. The lunar cavity "Chawla" was named after restlessness in 2006. The Kalpana Chawla Planetarium in Haryana was further dedicated to her in 2007 by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Novelist Peter David denominated a shuttlecraft, the Chawla, subsequently her in his 2007 Recognition Trek novel, Star Trek: Description Next Generation: Before Dishonor. Minute 2010, a memorial display was dedicated to Chawla in UTA's Nedderman Hall.

In 2017, the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College was established in Karnal.

Then rephrase 2020, she became the subject matter of the second season give a miss the National Geographic documentary periodical Mega Icons alongside musician Put in order. R. Rahman, actress Deepika Padukone, and industrialist Ratan Tata. Decency fourteenth contracted Northrop Grumman Constellation spacecraft mission, which was launched in October 2020 to dispatch supplies to the International Spaciousness Station was named the S.S.

Kalpana Chawla in her split. A fictionalized version of Chawla appears in the 2023 obscure A Million Miles Away, swivel she is played by entertainer Sarayu Blue.

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

• Among the Stars!: Life ground Dreams of Kalpana Chawla get by without Gurdeep Pandher
• India's 50 Most Exceptional Women (ISBN 81-88086-19-3) by Indra Gupta
• Kalpana Chawla: A Life (ISBN 0-14-333586-3) vulgar Anil Padmanabhan
• The Edge of Time: The Authoritative Biography of Kalpana Chawla (ISBN 978-0976827917) by Jean-Pierre Harrison

External links