19 November 1997… This was the day when India’s daughter Kalpana Chawla was watching the earth from space. While staying in space for 376 hours and 34 minutes, Kalpana Chawla and her team made 252 rounds of the earth. During this time no one knew that the people who are doing wonders in space today will not be able to return to earth tomorrow. Let us tell you today what happened to Kalpana Chawla that she died.
First know when she joined NASA
Born on 17 March 1962 in Karnal, Haryana, Kalpana Chawla did her early studies from Haryana itself. After this, in 1982, she obtained a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College. After this, in 1984, she reached America and got a Masters degree in Space Aeronautics from Texas University.
Later, she did her doctorate in the same subject from Colorado University in America in 1988. After getting this degree, the doors of NASA opened for her and she joined NASA in 1988 itself.
Kalpana in the list of astronauts
This was the year 1994. NASA was looking for astronauts for its mission STS-87. Kalpana Chawla’s name was also in NASA’s list, the reason for which was that some time ago she was appointed Deputy Chief in California’s company Overset Methods and while working there, she did many important research in the field of aerodynamics.
Her research papers were also published in many renowned journals. This was the reason that NASA selected her as an astronaut for its mission. After this, in 1995, Kalpana Chawla took admission in Johnson Space Center and started preparing to go to space. In November 1996, it was announced that she would participate in NASA’s STS-87 mission as an expert.
A piece of foam became the cause of death
After completing its work in space, on February 1, 2003, NASA’s space shuttle Columbia was returning to Earth with 7 crew members after its space journey. But as soon as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the shuttle Columbia met with an accident. People present on Earth say that when this shuttle was falling down to Earth, it seemed as if a fireball was falling from the sky to Earth.
All the astronauts died in this accident. When it was investigated, it was found that a large piece of foam had broken off from the outer part of the Columbia shuttle and due to this the wing of the spaceship also broke. Because of the hole in this wing, the outside gases started filling inside the spacecraft rapidly and because of this all the sensors got damaged and finally the Columbia shuttle got destroyed along with all the astronauts.
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