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Kalpana Chawla (Ph.D.) Nasa
Astronaut |
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PERSONAL DATA: Born in
Karnal, India. Died on February 1, 2003 over the southern United States when Space Shuttle
Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing. She is
survived by her husband. Kalpana Chawla enjoyed flying, hiking, back-packing, and reading.
She held a Certificated Flight Instructor's license with airplane and glider ratings,
Commercial Pilot's licenses for single- and multi-engine land and seaplanes, and Gliders,
and instrument rating for airplanes. She enjoyed flying aerobatics and tail-wheel
airplanes.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Tagore School, Karnal, India, in 1976. Bachelor
of science degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India,
1982. |
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Master of science degree in aerospace engineering from University
of Texas, 1984. Doctorate of philosophy in aerospace engineering from University of
Colorado, 1988.
EXPERIENCE: In 1988,
Kalpana Chawla started work at NASA Ames Research Center in the area of powered-lift
computational fluid dynamics. Her research concentrated on simulation of complex air flows
encountered around aircraft such as the Harrier in "ground-effect." Following
completion of this project she supported research in mapping of flow solvers to parallel
computers, and testing of these solvers by carrying out powered lift computations. In 1993
Kalpana Chawla joined Overset Methods Inc., Los Altos, California, as Vice President and
Research Scientist to form a team with other researchers specializing in simulation of
moving multiple body problems. She was responsible for development and implementation of
efficient techniques to perform aerodynamic optimization. Results of various projects that
Kalpana Chawla participated in are documented in technical conference papers and journals.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in December 1994, Kalpana Chawla
reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 as an astronaut candidate in the 15th
Group of Astronauts. After completing a year of training and evaluation, she was assigned
as crew representative to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office EVA/Robotics and
Computer Branches. Her assignments included work on development of Robotic Situational
Awareness Displays and testing space shuttle control software in the Shuttle Avionics
Integration Laboratory. In November, 1996, Kalpana Chawla was assigned as mission
specialist and prime robotic arm operator on STS-87. In January 1998, she was assigned as
crew representative for shuttle and station flight crew equipment, and subsequently served
as lead for Astronaut Office’s Crew Systems and Habitability section. She flew on
STS-87 (1997) and STS-107 (2003) and has logged 30 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-87 Columbia (November 19 to December 5,
1997). STS-87 was the fourth U.S Microgravity Payload flight and focused on experiments
designed to study how the weightless environment of space affects various physical
processes, and on observations of the Sun's outer atmospheric layers. Two members of the
crew performed an EVA (spacewalk) which featured the manual capture of a Spartan
satellite, in addition to testing EVA tools and procedures for future Space Station
assembly. STS-87 made 252 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6.5 million miles in in 376 hours
and 34 minutes.
STS-107 Columbia (January 16 to February 1, 2003). The 16-day flight was a dedicated
science and research mission. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew
successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments. The STS-107 mission ended abruptly on
February 1, 2003 when Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16
minutes prior to scheduled landing.
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