On this day in 1962, she was born. The first Indian-born woman to fly in space and only the second Indian person to do so. Kalpana Chawla — the name that leaves almost all Indians with pride — would have been 55 today had it not been for the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003 which led to her death and six other astronauts. On her birth anniversary today, we bring you some facts about the Indian astronaut whose achievements continue to inspire many.
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- Chawla knew early on in her life that she wanted to be an aerospace engineer. “Every once in a while,” Chawla said to NASA, “we’d ask my dad if we could get a ride in one of these planes (planes from local flying clubs). And, he did take us to the flying club and get us a ride in the Pushpak and a glider that the flying club had,” she was quoted as saying. Kalpana had been inspired by JRD Tata’s work in aviation.
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- While being introduced to ‘Null set or empty set’ in her mathematics class in college, Kalpana had reportedly said an Indian woman astronaut was a classic example of the set as till then no Indian woman had become an astronaut. She also added, ‘Who knows, Madam, one day this set may not exist?’ During career discussions with her peers, In an interview to Rediff.com, Kalpana’s elder sister, Sunita Chaudhary said whenever anybody reminded Kalpana of her Indian roots, Kalpana would assert, “I am a citizen of the world. I belong everywhere.”
- During her last flight, Kalpana had with her reportedly a special flag designed by art students from around India. The flag, she believed, depicted the importance of education and it was a reminder to salute teachers like Nirmala Namboothiripad, who taught h“I think inspiration and tied with it is motivation. For me, definitely, it comes every day from people in all walks of life. It’s easy for me to be motivated and inspired by seeing somebody who just goes all out to do something.”er science at the Tagore Public School in Karnal.