Kalpana chawla

                         Kalpana chawla

Born in Karnal, India, on July 1, 1961, Chawla was the youngest of four children. The name Kalpana means "idea" or "imagination." Her full name is pronounced CULL-puh-na CHAV-la, though she often went by the nickname K.C.

Chawla obtained a degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College before immigrating to the United States and becoming a naturalized citizen in the 1980s. She earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1988, having previously obtained her masters degree from the University of Texas. She began working at NASA's Ames Research Center the same year, working on power-lift computational fluid dynamics.

In 1994, Chawla was selected as an astronaut candidate. After a year of training, she became a crew representative for the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics and Computer Branches, where she worked with Robotic Situational Awareness Displays and tested software for the space shuttles.

After completing her real career started. In 1994 she became a space passenger in NASA. Further one year later she became a member of space zone too. Kalpana always had a dream of landing on the moon. And as a result of her hard work and dedication, she reached such heights.

Kalpana’s first space mission was on November 19, 1994. She was a part of 6 member crew on space shuttle Columbia Flight STS-87. Furthermore, she lived for around 375 hours and traveled over 6.5 million miles in space. But when she was returning to Earth the space shuttle disintegrated. Thus the lives of all the 7 crew members ended which Kalpana a part was of. Therefore her career ended sooner than expected.

The Death of Kalpana Chawla struck sadness in the minds of Indians. Yet she will always be a great inspiration for all the Indian women. As she became a role model of all the youth. The youth who have always dreamt of doing something great in their lives. Furthermore, it also gives us a message that we should not confine ourselves within boundaries.

Moreover, we should see life as an opportunity to fulfill our dreams. Kalpana always took life as a challenge and an opportunity. Because of this only she was able to achieve such heights.