Kalpana Chawla (Better 2000s)

Kalpana Chawla (born March 17, 1962) is the first woman of indian decent in space.

Career at NASA
Kalpana began working for NASA in 1988, the same year Leroy Cain began work at NASA. Her intiial work was in compulational fluid dynamics and VTOL (Verticle Take Off and Landing) craft. In 1991 she became a naturalized US citizen. Two years latter she became Vice President of Overset Methods, Inc where she also worked as a research specialist in the area of simulation of body movements. Her first space mission came in 1997, where she was the primary operator of the Columbia's robotic arm during STS-87. On that mission she uttered the profound words "You are just your intelligence." when experiencing weightlessness. As operator of the arm she was tasked with deploying the Spartain Satalite which malfunctioned upon deployment. An investigation after the mission exonerated Chawla who at the time was, due to being the rookie, suspected of having errored in the deployment. The investigation revealed software errors on the Columbia, and errors in official procedure. After STS-87 Chawla was assigned technical work regarding the ISS.

Her second space flight was STS-107; The crew performed nearly 80 experiments studying earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety. During the launch of STS-107, Columbia's 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle external tank and struck the left wing of the shuttle. At 8 AM on the first of febuary de-orbit was given a 'no-go' and Chawla along with her fellow crew members had to wait for Mission Control to conclude a meeting on the matter. The result was a 9 day stay aboard the shuttle. The crew investigated ways to resolve the issue themselves but as Mission Control predicted there was no way to repair the damage themselves. The crew kept contact with people on Earth till they where picked up by Space Shuttle Atlantis. Chawla and the others didnt' get to see Columbia disentigrate upon de-orbit till after thier return.

Chawla eventually visited India as per then Prime Minister IK Gujral's request during STS-107; along with those crew and family members who decided to join her on the visit which would inspire some minds to take part in India's own space program.