Posted on 02/01/2003 10:49:44 AM PST by Gamecock
Kalpana Chawla's space dream did India proud
NDTV Correspondent
Saturday, February 1, 2003 (Washington, New Delhi):
Kalpana Chawla, who died in the Columbia space shuttle mishap along with six others, had done India proud when she embarked on her first space mission on November 19, 1997.
The Karnal-born Chawla, the first Indian American astronaut, began her career at the Ames Research Center at NASA in 1988.
A graduate in aeronautical engineering from the Punjab Engineering College she began work at the Ames in the area of fluid dynamics.
Following her successful tenure at the Ames, Chawla in 1993 joined the Overset Methods Inc in California as vice president and a research scientist in charge of simulating various body functions for future space missions.
NASA selected Chawla as an astronaut candidate in 1994 and she joined the 15th group of astronauts in March 1995.
After a year of training and evaluation, Chawla was assigned as a crew representative to work on technical issues for NASA's Astronaut Office Extra Vehicular Activities, Robotics, dealing in space walks
.
She was instrumental in the testing space control software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory.
Chawla's received recognition here and was assigned as mission specialist and prime robotic arm operator on the STS-87 and was involved in the manual capture of an orbiting satellite.
Pall of gloom
Chawla's relatives in New Delhi including her brother went into a state of shock after the hearing news.
"We are not in a position to say anything. We are too shocked," one of the relatives said when asked about her brother Sanjay Chawla's whereabouts.
Sanjay had gone to Kennedy Space Centre in Florida to witness the launch in what was perhaps his last meeting with his sibling.
Irreparable loss
Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Murli Manohar Joshi has expressed deep shock at the crash of the Columbia.
"I am deeply shocked at the tragedy both as a physicist and the Minister for Science and Technology. This is very unfortunate that an otherwise successful mission met with an accident just a few minutes before landing," Dr Joshi said.
Describing Chawla as a worthy daughter of India, he said, "For India it is an irreparable loss. I share the grief with every fellow countryman".
The Minister also said there was a need for thorough investigation so that such accidents do not occur in the future.
Tragic incident
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Kasturirangan has described the incident as tragic.
"It is a tragic development for the entire space community as well as the country,'' Kasturirangan told NDTV.
''Though I did not know Kalpana Chawla personally, I consider her achievement, as being the first Indian woman to enter space on board the Space shuttle Columbia, as a big achievement for India.'' he said.
May God comfort their souls and the hearts of those left behind.
Yes. My neighbors are from India and are deeply saddened by this tragedy, but are at the same time proud of this young woman. So am I.
And proud that such a place as America exists, that encourages anyone who dares to become the best that they can be.
God bless them all.
I can understand why Russians would be involved, since they had a space program that was comparable to ours. But including an Indian and an Israeli really seems excessive.
She sounds like a delightful person to have known. She certainly had an impressive amount of achievements for a life cut short.
Not an insensitive question - the US regularly puts foreign astronauts on board because it's a cheap method of diplomacy and engendering good feelings about the US around the world. Basically, it's the same reason that they put John Glenn on a shuttle - to make folks feel warm and fuzzy about the space program and the US. And, IMO, there's nothing wrong with PR, so long as it doesn't interfere with the primary mission of the space program, research and exploration.
Although, strictly speaking, that's not the case with this lady, as I understand that she was a naturalized US citizen, and not a foreign national as was the Israeli fellow....
Kalpana Chawla is an American. Not a foreigner.
I can understand why Russians would be involved, since they had a space program that was comparable to ours. But including an Indian and an Israeli really seems excessive.
Dr. Chawla wasn't here on an exchange program. She was an American of Indian origin. Read the bio again.
I was watching FNC a bit later, and the anchor apologised for that. He said he'd been reading the NASA bio aloud, without thinking about it until the words were out of his mouth.
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