Chapter 4 An Indian American Woman in Space: Kalpana Chawla Class 6 English Summary
Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She was the first Indian-American astronaut and the first Indian woman to go into the space. She did her Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering in India and Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering from USA. Later she also earned her Ph.D in aerospace engineering. She was married to flight instructor Jean-Pierre Harrison. She was also a certified flight instructor.
She was selected by NASA for training as an astronaut in 1994. Her first space mission started when the shuttle Columbia lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Florida on 16 January. This mission was 15 days, 16 hours and 34 minutes long. During this time she went 252 times around the earth. But while returning to earth, the space shuttle ‘Columbia’ carrying Kalpana and her crew met with a tragedy. It broke apart in flames on Saturday, 1 February, 2003 killing all aboard. This sad news of this disaster was shocking.
For millions of young Indians, the story of Kalpana Chawla, a girl from a small town who touched the skies, had become an inspiration. In her message from aboard the space shuttle, Columbia, to the students of her college at Chandigarh, she said, “The path from dreams to success does exist. Only you should have the capacity to find it and the courage to get onto it”
Word Meanings
• Frontiers -boarders
• Aeronautical engineering – engineering of flights of plane and Rockets
• Astronaut – one who goes into space
• Launch pad – place from where rockets are launched
• Lite off – go up in the space
• Naturalized – granted permission as if born in the country
• Crew – all the people who work on a ship, aircraft, etc.
• Pollinating – spray of pollens
• Enormous – very big
• Glued – stuck