KALPANA CHAWLA(1961-2003)
INDIA'S FIRST WOMAN ASTRONAUT
On november 20, 1997 the us shuttle columbia blasted off from the kennedy space cantre at cape canaveral in florida carrying on board a crew of six. this day ws matter of great pride fr india and woman in perticular as the six-member----crew inculded an indian woman Kalpana chawla
Way back in 1994 media and people took note of kalpana whn she ws selected as an astronaout by the national Aeronautics and space administration (NASA) . kalpana ws among the six civilian finalist who wr selected after several rounds of interviews and rigorous physical and medical evalutions at the Johnson space centre (JSC)frm a pool of almost 3000 aspiring applicants.
Born in karnal , Haryana on july 1, 1961 , Kalpana ws the daughter of banwarilal, a businessman and sanyogita , a simple housewife . educated at the tagore school , kalpana secured a engineering college in chandigarh . she obtained her master's degree frm the university of texas in 1984 and a doctorate frm the university of texas in 1984 in 1984 and a doctorate frm the university of colorado four years later.
It ws no more fights of fancy as the young girl frm haryana started flying in 1987 while doing her Ph.D. at colorado . it ws in 1995 tht she got a commercial pilot's licence fr single and multi-engine planes.
Before joining NASA , kalpana ws working fr a company in california as vice-president and research scientist .during her stay in california, she developed some efficiant techniquies to perform aerodynamics optimisation. her research also coverd such diverse field as simulation and analysis of flow physics concerning the operation of powered -lift aircraft at NASA ames research centre in california . she graduated from NASA's astronaut's training programm in 1995 along wd 22 other trainees including five women.
In her first space voyage kalpana herself performed many intricate opration and studied weightlessness and the sun's outer atmospheric layers.
She became a naturalised American citizen and married jean- peirre Harrison , a flying instructor .
Kalapna got th rare chance to go on her second space flight as mission specialist , on columbia shuttle again , in january .2003, bt unfortunately the space shuttle back frm its 22nd successful flight disintegrated in flames over texas (USA) on february 1, 2003, jus 6 minuts before it ws to land , tragically killing all the seven crew members , including kalpna chwala .
India'sfirst woman astronaut ws truly a shining example of courge and conviction and an ever - lasting role model fr the young . Kalpana chawla award fr courage and daring enterprise hs been instituted by tamil nadu government .
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