Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla - Astronauts, Life Achievements and Family

Violet FieldHome › AmericanKalpana ChawlaMarch 17, 1962703 views

0 based on 0 rates
Kalpana Chawla Biography Stories 

Kalpana Chawla's Personal Details

Kalpana Chawla was American astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle ‘Columbia’ disaster

InformationDetail
BirthdayMarch 17, 1962
Died onFebruary 1, 2003
NationalityAmerican
FamousMiscellaneous, Astronauts
SpousesJean-Pierre Harrison (m. 1983–2003)
Universities
  • University Of Colorado--Boulder,University Of Texas--Arlington
  • University of Colorado Boulder
  • University Of Texas At Arlington
  • Punjab Engineering College
  • Tagore Baal Niketan Sr. Sec. School
  • Karnal
  • Panjab University Chandigarh
Notable Alumnis
  • University Of Colorado--Boulder
  • University Of Texas--Arlington
  • University Of Colorado--Boulder
  • University Of Texas--Arlington
Cause of death
  • Accident
Birth PlaceKarnal, India
Born CountryIndia
ReligionHinduism
Height163
GenderFemale
FatherBanarasi Lal Chawla
MotherSanjyothi Chawla
Sun SignPisces
Born inKarnal, India
Famous asAstronaut
Died at Age40

// Famous Astronauts

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong was the first man ever to land on the Moon. Explore this biography to know in details about the childhood, life, profile and timeline of this celebrated personality.

Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison

Mae Carol Jemison is a famous American astronaut who became the first African American astronaut to travel to space. To know more about her childhood, career, profile and timeline read on

Franklin Chang Díaz

Franklin Chang Díaz

Franklin Chang-Diaz is an American-Costa Rican physicist and former NASA astronaut. This biography profiles his childhood, life, career, achievements and timeline.

Kalpana Chawla's photo

Who is Kalpana Chawla?

Kalpana Chawla was American astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle ‘Columbia’ disaster. Born in Karnal, India, she was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. A tomboy from the beginning, she developed a passion for airplanes in her early childhood. After earning a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Punjab she moved to the USA at the age of twenty. There she did her Masters and PhD in Aerospace Engineering. Thereafter, she joined NASA and began her career as a researcher, working on various topics first at Ames Research Center and then at Overset Methods Inc. Meanwhile, she became a certified pilot with a commercial license for multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. After becoming a US citizen in 1991, she applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps, eventually joining the organization in March 1995. In May 1997, she went on her first space mission, travelling for fifteen days in the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. In 2003, she travelled once again into the space aboard ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-107 and remained in the space for about sixteen days. She died at the age of forty when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas, sixteen minutes prior to landing.

// Famous Miscellaneous

Jason Simpson

Jason Simpson

Jason Simpson is the son of former NFL running back, broadcaster and actor O. J. Simpson. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family, life, and little known facts about him.

Melissa Brim

Melissa Brim

Melissa Brim is the ex-girlfriend of former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer is a Christian author and speaker. This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline

Childhood & Early Years

Kalpana Chawla was born on 17 March 1962 in Karnal, a city located in the Indian state of Haryana. However, her official date of birth, which was altered to enable her to appear for her matriculation examination, was 1 July 1961. At home, she was called Monto.

Her father, Banarasi Lal Chawla, originally from the Multan district of West Punjab, relocated to Haryana after the country was partitioned in 1947. On coming to India, he started working as a street hawker; later a cloth seller and a metal fabricator. Eventually he set up a tire manufacturing business.

Her mother, Sanyogita Chawla, was a homemaker. She was a very supportive and liberal lady. At that time, girls’ education was considered a luxury; yet she made sure that all her girls went to school.

Kalpana was born youngest of his parents’ four children; she had two elder sisters named Deepa and Sunita and an elder brother named Sanjay. From the very beginning, the children were encouraged to work hard and to gather knowledge.

According to her brother Sanjay, Kalpana was the most intelligent of them. Always a precarious and confident child with lots of natural curiosity, she loved to discover how things worked. The sky, with stars twinkling in it, also caught her fancy.

In summer nights, as the family went to the rooftop to sleep, Kalpana remained awake for a long time, watching the stars twinkling in the sky. She also became interested in airplanes early in her childhood, scrambling to the rooftop as planes from nearby flying club roared over their house.

For her formal education, Kalpana was enrolled at Tagore Bal Niketan Senior Secondary School. Till then known as Monto, she herself chose ‘Kalpana’ as her good name because it meant ‘imagination’.

At school, she enjoyed studying Hindi, English and Geography; but Science was always her favorite subject. A good student, she used to secure good ranks all through her school years.

Although she excelled in academics she was not a bookworm, taking keen interest in extracurricular activities and her obsession with airplanes never wavered. In drawing classes, while her classmates drew mountains and rivers she would draw colorful airplanes and make airplanes models in craft classes.

In 1976, Kalpana graduated from Tagore Bal Niketan, passing her class 10 board examination with flying colors. Thereafter, she entered DAV College for Women for her plus 2 education. By then, with the launching of Viking I in 1975, she had become keenly interested in space technology.

While explaining the concept of null set in algebra, her teacher in DAV College gave the example of Indian women astronauts as there was no Indian women astronaut at that time. To everybody’s surprise, Kalpana got up to say, “Who knows Ma’am, one day this set may not be empty!”

In 1978, she completed her schooling from DAV College and decided to enter Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, with Aeronautical Engineering. While her father objected to the idea, believing teaching or medicine to be more suitable career option for a girl, her mother gave her unfaltering support. Eventually, her father relented.

In 1978, Kalpana moved to Chandigarh to enter PEC with Aeronautical Engineering. She was the only female student in her batch and as she could not avail the hostel facility, she hired a small room over a garage and began to live in it, cycling to her college every day from there.

Along with her formal studies, she began to read books and magazines on aviation. In her college, she joined both the Aero Club and Astro Society; shortly becoming one of the joint secretaries of these clubs. Concurrently, she also started learning karate, and earned a black belt.

In 1982, Kalpana earned her Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering, securing the third rank in her batch. With it, she became the first female aeronautical engineer to pass out from Punjab Engineering College. For her master’s degree, Kalpana secured admission in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas in USA.

Although her family was reluctant to let her go abroad she was able to persuade them and left for the USA in 1982, joining University of Texas at Arlington a little late. She graduated from there in 1984, earning her first Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.

In 1984, after graduating from University of Texas, she joined University of Colorado Boulder, earning a second Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1986. Thereafter, she began to work on her doctoral thesis, earning her PhD in 1988.

Career

In 1988, Kalpana Chawla began her career at NASA’s Ames Research Center. There, she started working on power-lift computational fluid dynamics, concentrating on the concept of vertical and/or short take-off and landing. Once the project was complete, she began working on mapping of flow solvers to parallel computers.

In 1993, she was made Vice President of Overset Methods Inc. and moved to Los Altos, California, with the responsibility of developing efficient techniques to perform aerodynamic optimization and implementing the same. There, she formed a team of researchers and began working on simulation of moving multiple body problems.

In December 1994, she was selected to join NASA Astronaut Corps, a unit of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Its job is to select, train, and provide astronauts not only for U.S., but also for international space missions and is based at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston.

In March 1995, she joined Johnson Space Center as an Astronaut Candidate in the 15th Group of Astronauts. There, she underwent rigorous training for one year, at the end of which she was assigned to the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics and Computer Branches to work as crew representative.

As crew representative, she was assigned to work on the development of Robotic Situational Awareness Displays. Besides, she was also assigned to test space shuttle control software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory.

First Space Travel

In November 1996, Chawla was assigned to Space Shuttle Columbia flight, STS-87 as Mission Specialist 1 and the primary Robotic Arm Operator. It was launched on November 19, 1997 from Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center.

During her first mission, Chawla spent around 15 days (376 hours, 34 minutes) in space, making 252 orbits around the earth, traveling a total distance of 6.5 million miles. The mission returned to the earth on December 5, 1997.

Among other experiments, STS-87 mainly focused on how the weightless in the space affects physical processes. They also tested EVA tools and procedures and observed the outer atmospheric layers of the sun.

Chawla was especially responsible for deploying a Spartan satellite, which developed a snag, requiring two members of the crew, Winston Scott and Takao Doi, to take a spacewalk and manually capture it. Later it was found that there was an error in the software interfaces, which absolved her of negligence.

In January 1998, after the completion of post flight activities, Chawla joined the Astronaut Offices Crew Systems, serving as crew representative for the shuttle and station flight crew equipment. Subsequently, she served as lead for Astronaut Offices Crew Systems and Habitability section.

Last Space Mission

In 2000, Kalpana Chawla was selected as a Mission Specialist for STS-107, the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. It was a scientific mission and included a small laboratory, christened as ‘space hab’. The laboratory was seven meters in length, five meters in width and four meters in height.

Initially it was planned that the mission would take off on January 11, 2001; but was delayed 18 times due to technical problems and scheduling conflicts. Eventually it was launched on January 16, 2003 from Kennedy Space Center's LC-39-A. But the launching was not without any hitch.

81.7 seconds after the launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter, damaging it considerably. At that time, STS-107 was at an altitude of about 65,600 feet, traveling at a speed of 1,650 miles per hour.

The space shuttle remained in the space for 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds. During this period, the mission crew worked twenty-four hours a day in two alternating shifts, performing nearly 80 experiments, focusing not only on space science, but also on health and safety of the astronauts.

After a successful trip in the space, STS-107 re-entered the earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003. But the crew never reached home because 16 minutes before the scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center, the space craft disintegrated over Texas, killing each of them.

Major Works

Although Kalpana Chawla is best known as the first Indian woman to go to space, she was also a well-known researcher, making significant contribution to the development of space technology. She is especially known for her work on the simulation of moving multiple body problems.

Awards & Achievements

Kalpana Chawla was posthumously awarded Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA Space Flight Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

Personal Life & Legacy

In 1983, Kalpana Chawla married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a French-American flying instructor and a author, knowns for his two books: ‘The Edge of Time: The Authoritative Biography of Kalpana Chawla’ and ‘Principles of Helicopter Flight’. The couple did not have any children. In 1991, she became an American citizen.

Chawla died on February 1, 2003 at around 9 AM, when STS-107 disintegrated over Texas. The damage caused at the time of its launch allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate and destroy its internal wing structure when it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, eventually leading to the disintegration of the spacecraft.

The mortal remains of all the crew members were later identified. Chawla’s remains were cremated and her ashes were scattered at National Park in Utah in accordance to her wish.

After her death, ‘51826 Kalpanachawla’, an Eoan asteroid located in the outer region of the asteroid belt and ‘Chawla Hill’, one of the seven peaks in the Columbia Hill chain on planet Mars, have been named in her honor.

In India, MetSat-1, the first satellite in the meteorological series of satellites called MetSat, was renamed ‘Kalpana-1’. NASA also dedicated a supercomputer in her honor.

In 2004, the University of Texas opened a dormitory named Kalpana Chawla Hall in her honor. The girls’ hostel in University of Punjab has also been named after her. Apart from these, many other colleges and universities in India have renamed their student dormitories and hostels after her.

Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC) in Karnal and Kalpana Chawla Planetarium in Jyotisar, Kurukshetra also carry her legacy. In addition, numerous awards and honors have also been established in her name.

74th Street in Jackson Heights in New York City has been renamed ‘Kalpana Chawla Way’ in her honor. In Mumbai, India, a crossroad in Borivli has been renamed Kalpana Chawla Chowk.

// Famous Pisces Celebrities peoples

Christine Baumgartner

Christine Baumgartner

Christine Baumgartner is an American model and the wife of famous American actor Kevin Costner. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.

Galina Becker

Galina Becker

Galina Becker is a former athlete and fitness model from America. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.

Nikkie De Jager

Nikkie De Jager

Check out all that you wanted to know about Nikkie De Jager, the famous Dutch Makeup artist; her birthday, her family and personal life, her boyfriends, fun trivia facts and more.

Kalpana Chawla's awards

YearNameAward

Other

0Congressional Space Medal of Honor

Kalpana Chawla biography timelines

  • // 1947
    Her father, Banarasi Lal Chawla, originally from the Multan district of West Punjab, relocated to Haryana after the country was partitioned in 1947. On coming to India, he started working as a street hawker; later a cloth seller and a metal fabricator. Eventually he set up a tire manufacturing business.
  • // 1st Jul 1961 To 17th Mar 1962
    Kalpana Chawla was born on 17 March 1962 in Karnal, a city located in the Indian state of Haryana. However, her official date of birth, which was altered to enable her to appear for her matriculation examination, was 1 July 1961. At home, she was called Monto.
  • // 1975 To 1976
    In 1976, Kalpana graduated from Tagore Bal Niketan, passing her class 10 board examination with flying colors. Thereafter, she entered DAV College for Women for her plus 2 education. By then, with the launching of Viking I in 1975, she had become keenly interested in space technology.
  • // 1978
    In 1978, she completed her schooling from DAV College and decided to enter Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, with Aeronautical Engineering. While her father objected to the idea, believing teaching or medicine to be more suitable career option for a girl, her mother gave her unfaltering support. Eventually, her father relented.
  • // 1978
    In 1978, Kalpana moved to Chandigarh to enter PEC with Aeronautical Engineering. She was the only female student in her batch and as she could not avail the hostel facility, she hired a small room over a garage and began to live in it, cycling to her college every day from there.
  • // 1982
    In 1982, Kalpana earned her Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering, securing the third rank in her batch. With it, she became the first female aeronautical engineer to pass out from Punjab Engineering College. For her master’s degree, Kalpana secured admission in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas in USA.
  • // 1982 To 1984
    Although her family was reluctant to let her go abroad she was able to persuade them and left for the USA in 1982, joining University of Texas at Arlington a little late. She graduated from there in 1984, earning her first Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.
  • // 1983 To 1991
    In 1983, Kalpana Chawla married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a French-American flying instructor and a author, knowns for his two books: ‘The Edge of Time: The Authoritative Biography of Kalpana Chawla’ and ‘Principles of Helicopter Flight’. The couple did not have any children. In 1991, she became an American citizen.
  • // 1988
    In 1988, Kalpana Chawla began her career at NASA’s Ames Research Center. There, she started working on power-lift computational fluid dynamics, concentrating on the concept of vertical and/or short take-off and landing. Once the project was complete, she began working on mapping of flow solvers to parallel computers.
  • // 1993
    In 1993, she was made Vice President of Overset Methods Inc. and moved to Los Altos, California, with the responsibility of developing efficient techniques to perform aerodynamic optimization and implementing the same. There, she formed a team of researchers and began working on simulation of moving multiple body problems.
  • // Dec 1994
    In December 1994, she was selected to join NASA Astronaut Corps, a unit of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Its job is to select, train, and provide astronauts not only for U.S., but also for international space missions and is based at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston.
  • // Mar 1995
    In March 1995, she joined Johnson Space Center as an Astronaut Candidate in the 15th Group of Astronauts. There, she underwent rigorous training for one year, at the end of which she was assigned to the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics and Computer Branches to work as crew representative.
  • // Nov 1996 To 19th Nov 1997
    In November 1996, Chawla was assigned to Space Shuttle Columbia flight, STS-87 as Mission Specialist 1 and the primary Robotic Arm Operator. It was launched on November 19, 1997 from Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center.
  • // 5th Dec 1997
    During her first mission, Chawla spent around 15 days (376 hours, 34 minutes) in space, making 252 orbits around the earth, traveling a total distance of 6.5 million miles. The mission returned to the earth on December 5, 1997.
  • // Jan 1998
    In January 1998, after the completion of post flight activities, Chawla joined the Astronaut Offices Crew Systems, serving as crew representative for the shuttle and station flight crew equipment. Subsequently, she served as lead for Astronaut Offices Crew Systems and Habitability section.
  • // 2000
    In 2000, Kalpana Chawla was selected as a Mission Specialist for STS-107, the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. It was a scientific mission and included a small laboratory, christened as ‘space hab’. The laboratory was seven meters in length, five meters in width and four meters in height.
  • // 11th Jan 2001 To 16th Jan 2003
    Initially it was planned that the mission would take off on January 11, 2001; but was delayed 18 times due to technical problems and scheduling conflicts. Eventually it was launched on January 16, 2003 from Kennedy Space Center's LC-39-A. But the launching was not without any hitch.
  • // 1st Feb 2003
    After a successful trip in the space, STS-107 re-entered the earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003. But the crew never reached home because 16 minutes before the scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center, the space craft disintegrated over Texas, killing each of them.
  • // 1st Feb 2003
    Chawla died on February 1, 2003 at around 9 AM, when STS-107 disintegrated over Texas. The damage caused at the time of its launch allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate and destroy its internal wing structure when it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere, eventually leading to the disintegration of the spacecraft.
  • // 2004
    In 2004, the University of Texas opened a dormitory named Kalpana Chawla Hall in her honor. The girls’ hostel in University of Punjab has also been named after her. Apart from these, many other colleges and universities in India have renamed their student dormitories and hostels after her.

// Famous American peoples

Wentworth Miller

Wentworth Miller

Wentworth Miller is an American actor and screenwriter who achieved recognition for his role in the TV series ‘Prison Break’.

Jason Simpson

Jason Simpson

Jason Simpson is the son of former NFL running back, broadcaster and actor O. J. Simpson. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family, life, and little known facts about him.

Melissa Brim

Melissa Brim

Melissa Brim is the ex-girlfriend of former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.

Skai Jackson

Skai Jackson

Skai Jackson is an American child actress with huge fan following. Find more about her family & personal life, relationships, facts and more.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer is a Christian author and speaker. This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline

Zoe LaVerne

Zoe LaVerne

Zoe LaVerne is an American musical.ly star. Check out this biography to know more about her family, personal life, including her age, birthday, etc.

Kalpana Chawla's FAQ

  • What is Kalpana Chawla birthday?

    Kalpana Chawla was born at 1962-03-17

  • When was Kalpana Chawla died?

    Kalpana Chawla was died at 2003-02-01

  • Where was Kalpana Chawla died?

    Kalpana Chawla was died in Space Shuttle Columbia over Texas

  • Which age was Kalpana Chawla died?

    Kalpana Chawla was died at age 40

  • Where is Kalpana Chawla's birth place?

    Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India

  • What is Kalpana Chawla nationalities?

    Kalpana Chawla's nationalities is American

  • Who is Kalpana Chawla spouses?

    Kalpana Chawla's spouses is Jean-Pierre Harrison (m. 1983–2003)

  • What was Kalpana Chawla universities?

    Kalpana Chawla studied at University Of Colorado--Boulder,University Of Texas--Arlington, University of Colorado Boulder, University Of Texas At Arlington, Punjab Engineering College, Tagore Baal Niketan Sr. Sec. School, Karnal, Panjab University Chandigarh

  • What was Kalpana Chawla notable alumnis?

    Kalpana Chawla's notable alumnis is University Of Colorado--Boulder, University Of Texas--Arlington, University Of Colorado--Boulder, University Of Texas--Arlington

  • What is Kalpana Chawla's cause of dead?

    Kalpana Chawla dead because of Accident

  • What is Kalpana Chawla's religion?

    Kalpana Chawla's religion is Hinduism

  • How tall is Kalpana Chawla?

    Kalpana Chawla's height is 163

  • Who is Kalpana Chawla's father?

    Kalpana Chawla's father is Banarasi Lal Chawla

  • Who is Kalpana Chawla's mother?

    Kalpana Chawla's mother is Sanjyothi Chawla

  • What is Kalpana Chawla's sun sign?

    Kalpana Chawla is Pisces

  • How famous is Kalpana Chawla?

    Kalpana Chawla is famouse as Astronaut