Astronomer: Kalpana Chawla
Life of Kalpana Chawla:
Kalpana Chawla was born on 17 March 1962, in Karnal of present-day Haryana,
India, but her date of birth was later falsified by her family to 1 July 1961, to allow
her to become eligible for the matriculation exam. As a child, she was fascinated
by aeroplanes and flying. She went to local flying clubs and watched planes with
her father. After getting a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical
Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, she moved to the United
States in 1982 and obtained a Master of Science degree in Aerospace
Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984. Chawla went on to
earn a second Masters in 1986 and a PHD in aerospace engineering in 1988
from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Kalpana Chawla was an Indian American astronaut and engineer who was the
first woman 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.
Her second flight was on STS-107, the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia in
2003. Chawla 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. Chawla was posthumously awarded the
Congressional Space Medal of Honor,and several streets, universities, and
institutions have been named in her honor. She is regarded as a national hero in
India.
Discoveries of Kalpana Chawla:
51826 Kalpana Chawla, provisional designation 2001 OB34, is an Eoan asteroid
in the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. It
was discovered on 19 July 2001, by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid
Tracking program at Palomar Observatory in California, United States. The
asteroid was named for Indo-American astronaut and mission specialist Kalpana
Chawla, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.