Kalpana Chawala an Indo-American astronaut . Kalpana Chawla to be an inspirational lady for youth all-over, especially girls. She overcame all odds and fulfilled her dream of reaching for the stars.

She was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, Haryana. Born into a middle-class family, she completed her schooling from Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal and her B.Tech in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College at Chandigarh, India in 1982.

Her only desire is becoming an astronaut, Kalpana aimed to join NASA and moved to the United States in 1982. She obtained a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984 and a second Master’s in 1986. She then earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

There’s always time for romance. In 1983, Kalpana marry with Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor and an aviation author.In 1988, dream of joining NASA finally came true. Kalpana was certified with a commercial pilot license for seaplanes, multi-engine aircraft and glider. She was also a certified flight Instructor for glider and aeroplanes.US Citizenship and continuation at NASA: On acquiring US citizenship in 1991, Kalpana Chawla applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps.

First space mission of Kalpana’s began on November 19, 1997. It’s been 20 years since her passing .On February 1, 2003, Kalpana died in space along with seven crew members in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The tragedy happened when the Space Shuttle disintegrated over Texas during its re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.

Many of award & honours giving her , some of those are : The Kalpana Chawla Award was instituted by the Government of Karnataka in 2004 to recognise young women scientists. NASA, has dedicated a supercomputer to the memory of Kalpana Chawla.