A project on life of ' Kalpana Chawla ' The Indian Astronaut and her achievements.

 Kalpana Chawla was the first spacewoman of India. She was an Astronaut and an Engineer. She was born in Karnal on 17 March 1962, in a small town in Haryana. She was inspired by J R D Tata who was the first pilot.

Kalpana, who was lovingly called Mantu by her parents, had shown extraordinary interest in flying. She was three or four years old when she first saw an airplane on their rooftop flying above their house.

Since then, her fascination with airplanes and flying became eminent. As a child, she always went with her father to a local flying club and watch planes. While in school, her teacher said that Kalpana spends her free time making paper airplanes and flying them.

Kalpana was an intelligent and bright student. She had done schooling from Karnal’s Tagore School in Punjab. She later studied Aeronautical Engineering Punjab University. She was the only girl student in her batch.

She went to America and took admission to complete her post-graduation. Kalpana Chawla did her PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder and then she got a doctorate degree. After that, she went to NASA in 1994.

From childhood, she wanted to go to space. She wanted to go to space to be on the Moon. Kalpana Chawla went to her first space mission in 1997. This mission was very successful. After this, She went on her second mission in space.

There were six members with her who went with her. She went in a shuttle, and its name was “Columbia Flight.”

After the mission, the shuttle was coming back to Earth. When the shuttle was entering the atmosphere of Earth, the gases damaged the shuttle. The spacecraft broke apart because of this damage. All the members died in this accident.

Kalpana Chawla is now considered a national hero of India. She died but she inspired many people who wish to go to space. She worked hard and fulfilled all her dreams.

She inspires every girl who wants to become an Engineer. She was a hardworking and brave woman.

Achievements of Kalpana Chawla

She received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, The NASA Space Flight Medal, and The NASA Distinguished Service Medal. She was Selected by NASA in December 1994. She was a part of Missions STS-87 and STS-107.