Page 89 - English Class 05

In 1997, an Indian-American, Kalpana Chawla was part of the international crew

aboard the US space shuttle, Columbia, becoming the first woman born in India to go
into space. Sadly, the second mission in Columbia ended in tragedy .

In an unprecedented space tragedy, US space shuttle Columbia, carrying India-born

American astronaut, Kalpana Chawla and six others, broke apart in flames as it
streaked over Texas towards its landing trip on Saturday, 1 February, 2003, killing all
seven on board. The shuttle lost contact with NASA at about 9 a.m. (19:30 hrs 1ST) as

it came in for landing. It was flying at an altitude of over 200,000 feet and travelling at
over 20,000 km per hour when ground control lost contact with the shuttle.

Columbia had lifted off on 16 January, 2003 from the Kennedy Space Center,

Florida. It had stayed in orbit for 16 days and the seven-member crew conducted 80
experiments before it began its downward journey which ended in tragedy. This was
Columbia’s 28th spaceflight and the shuttle was said to be good for 100 flights.

Kalpana Chawla said that she never dreamed as a child in Karnal that she would

cross the frontiers of space. It was enough that her parents allowed her to attend
engineering college after she graduated from Tagore School.

After a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, against great

opposition from her father, she went for a master’s degree to the United States of
America. She later earned her PhD in aerospace engineering. Kalpana Chawla was the
first Indian-American woman astronaut to blast off from the launch pad at Cape

Canaveral, Florida and participate in a successful mission in space. Her family from
India cheered along with the staff at the

Kennedy Space Center as they watched the
Columbia lift off.

Kalpana was born in Karnal, Haryana but
was a naturalized US citizen and married to

flight instructor Jean-Pierre Harrison. Besides
being an astronaut, she was licensed to fly

single and multi-engine land airplanes, single-
engine seaplanes and gliders. She was also a
certified flight instructor. After qualifying as a

tragedy : an event causing great sorrow
unprecedented : never done or known before

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