KALPANA CHAWLA

Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 – 1 February 2003) was an Indian American astronaut and engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.Her second flight was on STS-107, the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. Chawla was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere

kalpana chawla

EDUCATION

As a child, she was fascinated by aeroplanes and flying.[12] She went to local flying clubs and watched planes with her father. After getting a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, she moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984.Chawla went on to earn a second Masters in 1986 and a PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado Boulder.


CAREER

In 1988, she began working at NASA Ames Research Center, where she did computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research on vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) concepts. Much of Chawla's research is included in technical journals and conference papers. In 1993, she joined Overset Methods, Inc. as Vice President and Research Scientist specializing in simulation of moving multiple body problems. Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders. After becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in April 1991, Chawla applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps.She joined the corps in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1996.

HONORS

  1. Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC) is a Medical college located in Karnal, Haryana, India named after Chawla.
  2. The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, named the Kalpana Chawla Space Technology Cell in her honor
  3. he Government of Haryana established the Kalpana Chawla Planetarium in Jyotisar, Kurukshetra.
  4. The University of Texas at Arlington, where Chawla obtained a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering in 1984, opened a dormitory named Kalpana Chawla Hall in 2004.
  5. Kalpana Chawla Hall, University of Texas Arlington.In addition, the university dedicated the Kalpana Chawla Memorial on 3 May 2010, in Nedderman Hall, one of the primary buildings in the College of Engineering
  6. One of Florida Institute of Technology's student apartment complexes, Columbia Village Suites, has halls named after each of the astronauts, including Chawla.
  7. NASA has dedicated a supercomputer to Chawla
  8. The Kalpana Chawla Award was instituted by the Government of Karnataka in 2004 to recognize young women scientists
  9. In honor of her, a street was named Kalpana Chawla Street in Rayon Nagar in Sirumugai, a village in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
  10. 74th Street in the "Little India" of Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, New York, United States has been renamed "Kalpana Chawla Way" in her honor
  11. the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced that the meteorological series of satellites, MetSat, was to be renamed "Kalpana 1". The first satellite of the series, "MetSat-1", launched by India on 12 September 2002 was renamed "Kalpana-1 2002 was renamed "Kalpana-1

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