Kalpana Chawla

Crew Members of Columbia

Columbia Space Shuttle

 Columbia in motion

COLUMBIA MISSION
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter
manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by
NASA. Named after the first American ship to
circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and
the female personification of the United States, Columbia was
the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting
the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight in April
1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured
after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise,
Columbia retained unique features indicative of its
experimental design compared to later orbiters, such as test
instrumentation and distinctive black chines. In addition to a
heavier fuselage and the retention of an internal airlock
throughout its lifetime, these made Columbia the heaviest of
the five spacefaring orbiters; around 1,000 kilograms (2,200
pounds) heavier than Challenger and 3,600 kilograms (7,900
pounds) heavier than Endeavour. Columbia also carried
ejection seats based on those from the SR-71 during its first
six flights until 1983, and from 1986 onwards carried an
imaging pod on its vertical stabilizer.
 CONCLUSION

This project has helped me learn about Kalpana Chawla

- an Indian-born American astronaut and aerospace
engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly
to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in
1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm
operator.

Chawla's second flight was on STS-107, the final flight

of Columbia, in 2003. She 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 on 1 February 2003.
Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional
Space Medal of Honour, and several streets,
universities, and institutions have been named in her
honour.