Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla
Status Deceased
Born July 1, 1961
Karnal, Haryana, India
Died February 1, 2003 (aged 42)
Over Texas
Previous occupation Research Scientist
Time in space 31d 14h 54m
Selection 1994 NASA Group
Mission insignia Sts-87-patch.png STS-107 Flight Insignia.svg
Kalpana Chawla , was an Indian-American scientist and a NASA astronaut. She was one of seven crewmembers killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Early life
Kalpana Chawla was born in a Punjabi Hindu family at Karnal, Haryana, India.[1] She was born in Model Town Karnal. Kalpana in Hindi means "imagination". Her interest in flying was inspired by J. R. D. Tata, a pioneering Indian pilot and industrialist.[2][3]. Kalpana has two sisters (Sunita & Deepa) and a brother (Sanjay). Being the youngest, the family members gave her the nickname “Montu”. She met and married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor and aviation writer, in 1983 and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1990.[4]
[edit] Education
Chawla completed her earlier schooling at Tagore Public School, Karnal. She earned her B.E. degree in aeronautical engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh in 1982. She moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a M.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington (1984). Chawla went on to earn a second M.S. degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Later that year she began working for NASA Ames Research Center as vice president of Overset Methods, Inc. where she did CFD research on V/STOL.[2] Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multiengine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders. She held an FCC issued Technician Class Amateur Radio license with the call sign KD5ESI.
[edit] NASA career
Chawla joined the NASA astronaut corps in March 1995 and was selected for her
Status Deceased
Born July 1, 1961
Karnal, Haryana, India
Died February 1, 2003 (aged 42)
Over Texas
Previous occupation Research Scientist
Time in space 31d 14h 54m
Selection 1994 NASA Group
Mission insignia Sts-87-patch.png STS-107 Flight Insignia.svg
Kalpana Chawla , was an Indian-American scientist and a NASA astronaut. She was one of seven crewmembers killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Early life
Kalpana Chawla was born in a Punjabi Hindu family at Karnal, Haryana, India.[1] She was born in Model Town Karnal. Kalpana in Hindi means "imagination". Her interest in flying was inspired by J. R. D. Tata, a pioneering Indian pilot and industrialist.[2][3]. Kalpana has two sisters (Sunita & Deepa) and a brother (Sanjay). Being the youngest, the family members gave her the nickname “Montu”. She met and married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor and aviation writer, in 1983 and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1990.[4]
[edit] Education
Chawla completed her earlier schooling at Tagore Public School, Karnal. She earned her B.E. degree in aeronautical engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh in 1982. She moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a M.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington (1984). Chawla went on to earn a second M.S. degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Later that year she began working for NASA Ames Research Center as vice president of Overset Methods, Inc. where she did CFD research on V/STOL.[2] Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multiengine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders. She held an FCC issued Technician Class Amateur Radio license with the call sign KD5ESI.
[edit] NASA career
Chawla joined the NASA astronaut corps in March 1995 and was selected for her