On the 1st February of 2003, NASA’s Columbia Space Shuttle was arriving back to earth. 7 Astronauts were in that shuttle, one of them was very special to India, the mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla.
These 7 astronauts were getting back to the earth after spending 2 weeks in space. Their family was waiting eagerly for them. This flight was special for everyone but to NASA, it was a normal routine flight because this was the 28th flight of the Space Mission Columbia programme.At 08:44 AM, the space shuttle re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. Everything was working as expected. But after some minutes communication between the Space Shuttle and Capsule Communicator from earth got disconnected. 10 minutes passed but there was no reply from Columbia Space Shuttle. Because an explosion happened there. The cause for the explosion was the desecration of the shuttle wing.All seven Astronauts were dead and one of them was a 40 year old Indian born American,Kalpana Chawla.
A Woman Whose Story Became an Inspiration for the Whole Country. Lets know about her :
Kalpana was born on 17th march,1962 in Karnal, Haryana in a conservative family. Kalpana was 4th and the youngest daughter of her parents. She decided to keep her name own for her school admission. Kalpana which means imagination. Who knew that this young child would go on to do amazing feats in her life. Kalpana Chawla was interested in space after seeing planes in the sky. Everyone tried to discourage her ,asking her not to chase that dream. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering college. Then she completed her Master’s Degree at University of Texas. Later in 1988 she did her PhD In Aerospace Engineering from University of Colorado. She was 26 at that time and already started to work at NASA’s Ames Research Center.Her specialization was Fluid Dynamics Aircraft.
In 1991, she became American, thus we call her Indian Born American. In 1994 she was selected by NASA for Astronaut Training. After 3 years, Kalpana went on her first flight into space. The Columbia program flight STS-87. In this space shuttle, she orbits the Earth more than 250 times. She stayed in space for 2 weeks. In it, she was the mission specialist. She was the main operator of the robotic arm of the flight. After the successful mission Kalpana became the first Indian-origin woman to go to space and the first South Asian-American woman.
The Second and Last Space Journey for Kalpana Chawla:
Columbia Space Shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space center for the last round on 16th january,2003. Mission STS-107 had 7 Astronauts in total, led by commander Rick Husband. There were 3 mission specialists ,one of whom was Kalpana Chawla. She was focussing on Microgravity – How combustion happens in space? How can fire be Suppressed? Experimental Data was being transmitted to earth but approximately 30% of this data could have been collected after the explosion.
What Happened in Those Last Minutes , Right Before the Explosion?
It was reconstructed in a report briefly, Warning signs and alerts were ringing all around. There were problems with tire pressure and landing gear. Even if the cabin had better equipment, The Astronauts couldn’t have been saved.
After this incident, NASA stopped this space shuttle program for 2.5 years.
But like another country , India lost its pride- Kalpana Chawla. Even so, Her impact is seen in the lives of millions, directly or indirectly. She was so passionate about science education that she wanted every girl in India to get such education and that’s why she convinced NASA so that girls from her school could participate in NASA’s Summer Space Experience Program. NASA paid tributes to all 7 Astronauts by naming Asteroids as per the all 7 Astronauts name. This is why today, somewhere in our solar system an asteroid is orbiting the sun, whose name is 51826 Kalpana Chawla.
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Writer,
Ayesha Siddika Hamim
Intern, Content Writing Department,
YSSE