Kalpana Chawla

Her Story

By:

GURDEEP PANDHER
Author of her biography:
Among the Stars - Life and Dreams of
Kalpana Chawla
 Who was Kalpana?

 Born: July 1, 1961

 Died: Feb 1, 2003

 Spouse: Jean-Pierre Harrison (1983-2003)

 Education: University of Colorado (Boulder), University of
Texas (Arlington), Punjab Engineering College
(Chandigarh), Tagore Baal Niketan (Karnal).
 Space agency: NASA
 Awards: Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA
Space Flight Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal
 Parents: Banarasi Lal Chawla (Father), Sanjyothi Chawla
(Mother)
Kalpana Chawla was an American astronaut and the first
female 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. In 2003, Chawla was one of
the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle
Columbia disaster when the aircraft disintegrated during
its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Chawla was
posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of
Honor, and several streets, universities and institutions
have been named in her honor.
 The Columbia Tragedy

 On Feb 1, 2003, the world lost 7 shining

stars. The tragic loss of NASA’s Space
Shuttle Columbia that killed seven
astronauts, including our Kalpana
Chawla, resonated far and wide.
 The Space Shuttle was on its way home,
intending to land at Kennedy Space
Centre, when it exploded on entering the
Earth's atmosphere, just 16 minutes prior to
the scheduled landing.
Family

 Kalpana’s story would have

been incomplete without
the story of her parents,
especially that of Banarsi
Chawla.
Kalpana’s story

 Born on July 1, 1961 in

Karnal, which were a part
of Punjab at that time.
 She was youngest of child in
the family
 Statistics suggest that, the state of
In the early 60s, the era when Haryana, where Kalpana was
Kalpana Chawla was born, the born and grew up, has the
birth of boy in an Indian family highest rate of sex selection, in

Gender was a reason of celebrations and

congratulatory visits. The birth of a
which female fetuses are
aborted. Among children under
girl was often met with 6, it has 820 girls for every 1000
Gaps disappointment, and often still is. boys, according to the 2001
census of India.
Family  When Kalpana was born, her dad had small box

condition manufacturing shop. There was poverty in the family.

 Luck and hard-work worked side by side in
such a way that soon, Banarsi grew to
become a big businessman as he started
his tyre manufacturing business under the
Family Rise
name Super Tyre Industries in Karnal.
Early Education
In 1966, at the age of five, Kalpana was sent to Tagore Bal Niketan School, located in Karnal.
Life at School

 In the school, when

teachers asked pupils to
draw a picture, Kalpana
would draw stars and
spaceships while other
children drew flowers or
trees.
Love for the
far-away world
 She was interested in flying
from her student days.
 Kalpana’s favorite topic in
drawing class was
airplanes.
 Once she prepared a
project on environment in
which she made huge,
colourful charts and models
depicting the sky and stars.
Her interest in space was
well-visible through this
project.
Different

 Kalpana was different than

the other children of the
household. While other
children enjoyed playing
games, Kalpana devoted
her time to her studies.
 Done with High School

 Kalpana completed her 10th grade in 1976.

Pre-Engineering

 Then she completed her pre-engineering

education from DAV College for Women
and Dyal Singh College in Karnal from
1996 to 1977.
Search For  Engineering Success: July of 1978 was the month of
when Kalpana started dreaming of studying BE

New (Bachelor of Engineering), but she met stiff

resistance from her family. She was determined.

College Kalpana did her part to reshape India’s

complicated gender calculus.
 When she joined the Punjab Engineering
Punjab
College, Chandigarh, she faced
disapproval, not only from home, but also
Engineering
from the college’s department of
aeronautical engineering.
College,
Chandigarh
Bencher’s in
Engineering (BE)

Kalpana completed her bencher’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1982.

 Afterwards, she started having dreams to go to
the US for further studies. She found the University
of Texas in Arlington to do Masters.
Further Studies
Resistance by
the Family
 A revolt erupted in the
family when she
announced her plans.
After many uneasy and
long conversations, the
her path to the US
education started
becoming clear.
To the US
(University of Texas in Arlington)

 Kalpana went to the US with her brother Sanjay on August

28, 1982 to do masters at University of Texas in Arlington. The
classes started in the September. Sanjay returned to back
to India after spending two months in the US.
 In September 1982,
Kalpana also met Jean-
Pierre Harrison, who was a
freelance flying instructor.
They became friends and
shorty the friendship ended
up becoming a sweet
relationship. They both got
married on December 2,
1983.
 Kalpana created new ways
and shattered all old-age
Indian marriage
conventions and rituals.
Master’s
degree in
Aeronautical
Engineering
Kalpana completed her master’s degree
in Aeronautical Engineering in 1984.
 She and her husband
moved to Boulder where
Kalpana enrolled herself to
the Ph. D. program in
Aeronautical Engineering at
the University of Colorado.
Space Shuttle Challenger
Explosion on Jan 28, 1986

 Kalpana was at Boulder when the

Challenger explosion took place on
Jan 28, 1986. It stirred her mind. One
of the astronauts was even from the
University of Colorado.
Doctorate Degree

 Kalpana completed her doctorate degree in 1988.

 Now she was Dr. Kalpana Chawla.
 She was just 27 years old.
NASA’s Ames Research Centre,
California
 In 1988, she started working in NASA’s Ames
Research Centre in California as a research
scientist. She was just 27 years old when she
accepted the Ames Research Center job.
Made New Home in
Sunnyvale, California

 Therefore, along with her husband,

Kalpana moved to Sunnyvale to
work in the Ames Research centre.
Pilot’s License

 Kalpana lived in Sunnyvale from 1988 to

1994, where she made many friends.
While living in the bay area, Kalpana also
earned her pilot’s license.
US Citizen

 In 1990, at the age of 29, Kalpana

became a US citizen, which opened
many doors for her to become an
astronaut with NASA.
 Overset
Methods  In the year 1994, Kalpana left Ames Research

Inc., Los Centre to join Overset Methods Inc., Los Altos,

California as Vice-President and Research Scientist

Altos, to form a team with other researchers.

California
NASA

 In 1993, NASA advertised for

applications to fill the
vacancies of retired
astronauts. At that time,
Kalpana started thinking of
applying to the space
program. She did, but at
that time, she did not
succeed.
Space Shuttle

 Then again in 1994, she applied for

NASA, and this time she was invited to
the Johnson Space Centre for complete
an interview.
  Finally, Kalpana was selected as a trainee astronaut.
Out of 2962 candidates, only 19 were chosen including
A Dream 5 women.

Has Come
True
Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas

 In March 1995, Kalpana, along with her husband, moved to

Houston to work as trainee-astronaut at Johnson Space
Centre.
 At Johnson Space Centre,
on March 6, 1995,
Kalpana’s rigorous training
begun with mock-up
shuttles and simulators. For
14 months, Kalpana and
her fellow trainee
astronauts went through
stern training. In Florida,
they are also experienced
survival training on the land
and water.
Training
Continued
 Her training continued until
1996. During this process,
Kalpana underwent
rigorous tests, examinations,
underwater training, survival
skills, and much more.
  There were excitements all over when it was
announced in 1996 that the Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Talks will be launched into the space in 1997.
 For Kalpana, this was the biggest news when she came to
know that she would be in that Space Shuttle. There was
news all over. The was the day, which every astronaut waits
for.
Mission Specialist
and the Prime
Robotic Operator
 Kalpana was assigned as
the job of Mission Specialist
and the Prime Robotic
Operator with STS-87.
Beyond the Blue Sky

 On November 19, 1997, Kalpana

Flew to the space along with other 5
Crew members.
Family Arrived to
Watch the great
Launch
 Her husband JP, her family from
India like mother, father, sisters, and
brother travelled to the US to watch
the spectacular launch.
Food and Things for
the Space Home

 NASA permits astronauts to

bring souvenirs to the space
and Kalpana took
memories from her schools,
and an early photo with her
husband.
Back to Earth

 Finally, after an ardours

voyage in space, Columbia
and her crew returned to
earth and to gravity
spending 15 days and 16
hours and 34 minutes in the
orbit. Columbia STS-87
made 252 orbits of the
earth, travelling 6.5 million
miles in 376 hours and 34
minutes. Columbia landed
on December 5, 1997 at
Kennedy Space Centre.
STS 107

 Second Columbia flight,

knows as STS 107 was
planned, originally for
August 2001. But when
NASA engineers discovered
some cracks in the shuttle’s
body, it was delayed until
July 2002. Then it was again
it was rescheduled for a
lunch on January 16, 2003.
80 Experiments

 Astronauts conducted 80
experiments and worked in
the rotating shifts. When the
one team was sleeping, the
other was working.
  It was February 1, 2003. Everyone was waiting for the
Columbia is great touchdown. But their “wait” became “a long
wait”. The communications link between the space
Lost station and the Columbia stopped working. There
was a long silence.
And we lost our
Kalpana
 Yes, Columbia is lost. There
are no survivors.
 Then US president, George W.
Bush, said in his condolence
speech, “None of our astronauts
traveled a longer path to space
than Kalpana Chawla. She left
India as a student, but she would
see the nation of her birth -- all of
it -- from hundreds of miles
above. When the sad news
reached her home town, an
administrator at her high school
recalled, “She always said she
wanted to reach the stars. She
went there -- and beyond.”
 Kalpana's native country mourns
her today, and so does her
adopted land.”
Among the
Stars

 “Kalpana Chawla was

a courageous woman
who dreamed big.
Really big. She not
only dreamed, she
conquered all the
obstacles to realize it.
She dreamed of stars.
She went to space to
be among the stars
AND NOW LIVES
THERE.” ~ Gurdeep
Pandher
" I've always been very
determined. I don't get
easily discouraged"
Kalpana Chawla
"I was not
born for one
corner; the
whole world
is my native
land."
Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana’s Father
Banarsi Chawla
and
Gurdeep Pandher

Year 2003.
A few weeks after Banarsi lost
his great daughter.