Science News

Article originally written by Taeko Fueno ’25.

Most of us have heard about Neil Armstrong, an American astronaut who was the first person to walk on the moon. But what about the multiple other astronauts who have followed him to embark on the same journey into space, like Kalpana Chawla? 

In 1977, Kalpana Chawla became the first Indian-born woman to go to space. Chawla was born in Karnal, India, and was the youngest of four children. Her love for flying began after seeing an airplane when she was around three years old and continued to develop as she visited local flying clubs with her father. Being an Indian woman in a field predominantly filled with males, Chawla was constantly advised against following this career path; however, her resolve never wavered, graduating Punjab Engineering College with a degree in aeronautical engineering (a type of engineering that focuses on designing, testing, and producing aircrafts).

Chawla’s journey took her to the United States in the 1980s, where she continued to pursue her studies. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in aerospace engineering in 1988. The same year, she joined NASA’s Ames Research Center, where she incorporated computer technology into her research. Her work focused on powered-lift computational fluid dynamics, a crucial aspect of aerospace engineering that involves studying how air flows around an aircraft during flight. 

Chawla’s experiences of gender bias in the workplace, particularly as an Indian woman, fueled her passion for providing STEM opportunities to young girls in India. As a testament to this commitment, she initiated the Summer Space Experience Program with her former secondary school. This program offered a unique opportunity for two girls from the school to attend the Foundation for International Space Education’s United Space School in Houston. Chawla would then personally host the girls for an Indian dinner.  

In 1994, Chawla was selected as an astronaut candidate, and in November 1997, she went on her first mission aboard the space shuttle Columbia with other astronauts and studied things such as plant reproduction in microgravity and how different materials behave in space. In 2003, Chawla and her crew went on their second voyage to space, where they studied the sun and also analyzed how insects and fish respond to spaceflights, this time focusing on biological and health sciences. 

Unfortunately, on February 1st, 2003, as the shuttle passed through Earth’s atmosphere, a piece of insulation broke off and damaged the thermal protection system that protects the shuttle from heat during re-entry. Kalapan Chawla and her crew passed away in this major disaster, and NASA remembers their losses and honors their work on the last Thursday of every January while also emphasizing the importance of prioritizing safety in human spaceflight. After this tragic accident, NASA named seven asteroids and seven hills on Mars for the loss of each crewmember and made sure that no fatal catastrophe would ever happen again. Nonetheless, even after her passing, Kalpana Chawla’s legacy lives on, as her talent and hard determination throughout her career inspire numerous young girls in India, as well as many others around the world, to continue persevering when others may hold doubt and pursue their dreams of going to space.

Sources:

20 years after Columbia explosion, UTA remembers NASA astronaut, alum Kalpana Chawla (Cover Image)
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/02/01/20-years-after-columbia-explosion-uta-remembers-nasa-astronaut-alum-kalpana-chawla/