Kalpana Chawla

          Kalpana Chawla was born in 1961 in Karnal, a small sleepy town of Haryana. She is the first Indian woman astronaut and only the second Indian after Rakesh Sharma to go into space. In her childhood she used to make models of airplanes and dreamt to be a resident of the Milky Way. Kalpana began her education at a school in Karnal. Her dream began when, at the age of eight, her father took her to the Karnal Flying Club for the first time. These was the first step in her journey to space. She did her Bachelor in Aeronautical Engineering from the Punjab Engineering Collage. She was the first womam in India to study Aeronautical Engineering. She went to America to do her higher studies.

          In December 1994, NASA accepted her application to join as a candidate in the group of 15 astronauts. In November 1996 Kalpana’s dream came true when she was assigned in 16 days, mission to the space to be launched in 2003.
          It was 1st February 2003 and the time 8:53 a.m. at the Kennedy Spaces Florida, when the news broke out that the spaceship Colombia with six astronauts on board has exploded due to some technical failure. India lost a daughter who was a role model for many Indians. But her spirit will never die.