1962 – 2003
The girl from Karnal who touched the stars.
Born: 17 March 1962, Karnal | Known for: First Indian-born woman in space | Famous words: “The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it.”
Kalpana Chawla was born on 17 March 1962 in Karnal, Haryana — a place and time where daughters were rarely encouraged to dream big. But Kalpana ('imagination' in Sanskrit) watched planes at the local flying club with her father and sketched aircraft in her notebooks. When she topped her class, teachers asked what she wanted to be; her answer never changed: a flight engineer. Neighbours told her father engineering was no field for girls. He backed her anyway.
She earned her aeronautical engineering degree in Punjab — the only girl in her class — then flew to America for her master's and PhD. She became a research scientist at NASA, a licensed pilot of many aircraft, and in 1994, out of thousands of applicants, was selected as a NASA astronaut. In November 1997, aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, Kalpana became the first Indian-born woman in space, orbiting the Earth 252 times. Looking down, she said: 'You are just your intelligence.' Borders vanish from up there.
In January 2003 she flew again on Columbia — a 16-day science mission, mission STS-107. On 1 February, during the return to Earth, damage to the shuttle's wing from launch caused Columbia to break apart just 16 minutes before landing. All seven astronauts were lost. India froze in grief. She had once said: 'The path from dreams to success does exist... may you have the courage to walk it.'
Kalpana's name now travels where she did: NASA named a spacecraft after her (the Cygnus 'S.S. Kalpana Chawla'), India named a satellite series and countless scholarships, streets, and institutes in her honour, and a hill on Mars carries her crew's memory. In classrooms across India, when a girl says she wants to fly, someone now says — like Kalpana. That is the change one dream made.
Photo: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons