Contributions of Women Scientists

1. Arun Aby David
Physical Science

2. Kalpana Chawla
An American astronaut, engineer, and the first woman of Indian origin to go to
space
Born : 17 March 1962, in Karnal, Haryana.(1 July 1961 as official date of
birth)
Ever since childhood she was fascinated by aeroplanes and flying. She used to
often go to local flying clubs with her father and watch planes.
Expired in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on 1 February 2003

3. Kalpana Chawla with her husband Jean-Pierre Harrison
before the final pre-launch activity of STS 87

4. Education:
¤ Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College
¤ In the year 1982 she moved to USA and obtained Master of Science degree in
Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984.
¤ She obtained her second Masters in 1986 and PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988
from the University of Colorado Boulder.

5. Career:
 In 1988, she began working at NASA Ames Research Center, where she did
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research on vertical and/or short take-off and
landing (V/STOL) concepts.
 In 1993, she joined Overset Methods, Inc. as Vice President and Research Scientist
specializing in simulation of moving multiple body problems. After becoming a
naturalized U.S. citizen in April 1991, Chawla applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps.
She joined the corps in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1996.

6. First Space Mission
• Her first space mission began on 19 November 1997, as part of the six-astronaut crew that
flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian woman to go
in space.
• On her first mission, Chawla traveled over 10.4 million miles (16737177.6 km) in 252
orbits of the earth, longing more than 372 hours (15 days and 12 hours) in space. During
STS-87, she was responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which malfunctioned,
necessitating a spacewalk by Winston Scott and Takao Doi to capture the satellite.
• A five-month NASA investigation fully exonerated Chawla by identifying errors in
software interfaces and the defined procedures of the flight crew and ground control. She
was assigned to technical positions in the astronaut office to work on the space station after
exoneration.

7. Second Space Mission
• In 2001, Chawla was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-
107. This mission was repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and
technical problems such as the July 2002 discovery of cracks in the shuttle
engine flow liners.
• On 16 January 2003, Chawla finally returned to space aboard Space Shuttle
Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission. 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 orbiter.

8. • Previous shuttle launches had seen minor damage from foam shedding, but some
engineers suspected that the damage to Columbia was more serious. NASA managers
limited the investigation, reasoning that the crew could not have fixed the problem if it
had been confirmed.
• When Columbia re-entered the atmosphere of Earth, the damage allowed hot
atmospheric gases to penetrate and destroy the internal wing structure, which caused the
spacecraft to become unstable and break apart.

9. The crew members of STS 107

10. Achievements
• The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States
Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or
her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious
efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind”
• Posthumously awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA
Distinguished Service Medal.
• The first satellite of the series, "MetSat-1", launched by India on 12 September
2002 was renamed "Kalpana-1"

11. SUNITA WILLIAMS
• Sunita Lyn Williams is an American astronaut and United States
Navy officer who formerly held the records for most spacewalks
by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman (50
hours, 40 minutes)
• Born in Euclid, Ohio, to Indian American neuroanatomist
Deepak Pandya and Slovene American Ursuline Bonnie on
September 19, 1965

12. Education:
 She graduated from Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts, in 1983.
 She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science from the United States
Naval Academy in 1987
 Master of Science degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of
Technology in 1995.

13. Military Career
• In 1983 Williams entered the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. She
was made an ensign in 1987 and reported for aviator training at the Naval
Aviation Training Command. In July 1989 she began combat helicopter training.
She flew in helicopter support squadrons during the preparations for the Persian
Gulf War and the establishment of no-fly zones over Kurdish areas of Iraq, as
well as in relief missions during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in Miami.
• In 1993 she became a naval test pilot, and she later became a test pilot instructor,
flying more than 30 different aircraft and logging more than 2,770 flight hours.
When selected for the astronaut program, she was stationed aboard the
USS Saipan.

14. Career in NASA
• She entered astronaut training in 1998. She traveled to Moscow, where she
received training in robotics and other ISS operational technologies while
working with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and with crews
preparing for expeditions to the ISS(International Space Station).
• On December 9, 2006, Williams flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery on the
STS-116 mission to the ISS, where she was a flight engineer for Expeditions 14
and 15. During her stay at the space station, she made four space walks, totaling
more than 29 hours outside the spacecraft, and spent a total of more than 195
days in space, both of which were records for women in space.

15. • She was the second American astronaut of Indian heritage to go into space, after Kalpana
Chawla. Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California with the crew of STS-117
on June 22, 2007
.
• In 2015 Williams was selected as one of four astronauts to make the first test flights in
NASA’s Commercial Crew program, in which two new private crewed spacecraft, SpaceX’s
Crew Dragon and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, would take astronauts and supplies to the ISS.
She was chosen in 2018 for the first crewed Starliner flight to the ISS, which was scheduled
for 2020.

16. Personal Life
• Williams is married to Michael J. Williams, a federal police officer in Oregon.
• In September 2007, Williams visited the Sabarmati Ashram and her ancestral
village of Jhulasan in Gujarat, India. She was awarded the Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award by the World Gujarati Society, the first person of
Indian descent who was not an Indian citizen to be presented the award.

17. Achievements
• Navy Commendation Medal
• Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
• Humanitarian Service Medal
• NASA Spaceflight Medal
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration", Government of Russia (2011)
• Padma Bhushan, Government of India (June 25, 2008)
• Honorary Doctorate, Gujarat Technological University (2013)
• Golden Order for Merits, Government of Slovenia (May 20, 2013)

19. Tessy thomas
• Tessy Thomas is an Indian scientist and Director General of Aeronautical Systems and the
former Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation.
• She is the first ever woman scientist to head a missile project in India.
• Tessy Thomas was born in April 1963 in Alappuzha, Kerala.She grew up near Thumba Rocket
Launching Station and says her fascination with rockets and missiles began then. She was
stimulated even by the wonderment of aircraft flying

20. Education
• Formal education in St. Michael's Higher Secondary School and St. Joseph's
Girl's Higher Secondary School in Alappuzha. She had a natural flair for
mathematics and physics. She scored one hundred percent in mathematics during
her 11th and 12th years in school.
• She took an education loan of Rs. 100 per month from State Bank of India to
study engineering from Government Engineering College, Thrissur. She also
received a scholarship that covered her tuition fees having been entered into the
first ten students of the merit list during her admissions.
• She did an M.Tech in Guided Missile from the Defence Institute of Advanced
Technology. She also pursued MBA in Operations Management and Ph.D. in
guidance missile under DRDO.

21. Career
o She joined DRDO in 1988,where she worked on the design and development of
the new generation ballistic missile, Agni. She was appointed by Dr. APJ Abdul
Kalam for the Agni Project.
o In addition, Tessy was the associate project director of the 3,000 km range Agni-
III missile project. She was the project director for mission Agni IV which was
successfully tested in 2011.
o Appointed as the project director of the 5,000 km range Agni-V in 2009, which
was successfully tested on 19 April 2012.
o In 2018, she became the Director-General, Aeronautical Systems of DRDO.

22. Personal Life
• Married to Saroj Kumar, a commander in the Indian Navy and they have a son,
Tejas

23. Achievements
• Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for her contribution for making India self-
reliant in the field of missile technology.
• Dr Thomas Cangan Leadership Award at the Faculty of Management Studies –
Institute of Rural Management, Jaipur (FMS-IRM) in 2018

24. References
• Google
• www.drdo.gov.in
• www.nasa.gov.in