Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman astronaut who inspired many. She completed her schooling in India and earned degrees in aeronautical engineering. Chawla went on to work for NASA and became an astronaut, participating in two space shuttle missions. During her second mission on the Space Shuttle Columbia, the crew sadly perished upon re-entry in 2003. Chawla was a role model who paved the way for Indian women in STEM careers.

1. 10th G, English Second Language
Second Semester
PRESENT BY
YUVRAJSINH B. MORI
EN NO:110210125089
B.E PROD.
GEC BHAVANGAR

2. Introduction
• Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian
woman astronaut, was bold enough
tomake her career in aeronautics.
• She was a source of inspiration to her
friends and colleagues.
• She is a role model for many young
Indian women. This is an imaginary
interview conducted in her own
school.
• Kalpana Chawla did a nearly a billion
Indians proud when she embarked on
her first space mission on November
19, 1997.

3. • Born in Karnal in Punjab on July 1, 1961, Chawla completed her schoolings
from the Tagore School in the city in 1976 and later took a degree in
aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College in 1982.
• Chawla had a passion for flying and enjoyed hiking, back packing and
reading.
• Chawla went on to do her Masters in aerospace engineering from
University of Texas in 1984 and later Doctorate of philosophy in
aerospace engineering from university of Colorado in 1988.

4. • In 1998 Kalpana Chawla started work at NASA Ames Research center in the area
of powered- lift computational fluid dynamics.
• 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.
• Her first space mission began on November 19, 1997 as part of the six-astronaut
crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87.
• In 2000 she was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107.

5. 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 Offices Crew
Systems and Habitability section. She flew on STS-87
(1997) and STS-107 (2003), logging 30 days, 14 hours
and 54 minutes in space.

6. 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 the crew perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to scheduled
landing.

7. Memorial
• Shortly after her last mission, India renamed its first weather satellite
'Kalpana-1' in her honor.
• She died a hero and a role-model for many young women, particularly
those in her hometown of Karnal where she periodically returned to
encourage young girls to follow in her footsteps.
• Her brother, Sanjay Chawla , remarked "To me, my sister is not dead. She is
immortal. Isn't that what a star is? She is a permanent star in the sky. She
will always be up there where she belongs."

8. Warm – up Activity
VOCABULARY
What qualities make a person dynamic? Identify them
from the list of qualities given below:
• enthusiastic
• energetic
• vigorous
• active
• magnetic
• powerful
• hardworking
• courageous
• adventurous

9. Activity
Find the Odd Person / Odd Word out.
1. a) Biology b) Biomedicine
c) Biochemistry d) Biotechnology
2. a) Astrologer b) Astronomer
c) Astronauts d) Cosmonauts
3. a) Glider b) Air Plane
c) Tail Wheel Plane d) Parachute
4. a) Yuri Gagarin b) Kalpana Chawla
c) Valentina Tereshkova d) Neil Armstrong
5. a) Aircraft b) Satellite
c) Space Shuttle d) Orbit

10. Activity
Grammar
Read aloud the words given in the box. Classify them
into two groups:
1. Words beginning with a consonant sound.
2. Words beginning with a vowel sound
air, beautiful, captain, dolphin, engineer, foreigner,
government, honest, inkpot, jump, kangaroo, monster, shell,
church, parachute, judge, universe, pleasure, yeast,
organism, yellow, owl, aunt.

11. Activity
COMPREHENSION AND COMPOSITION
Circle the alphabet of the correct alternative.
1. What is the expansion of ISRO?
a. International Space Research Organisation
b. Indian Space Research Organisation
c. Indian Scientific Research Organisation
2. We see death as part of the circle of life - These are the
words of
a. A.B. Vajpayee
b. Claudie Haignere
c. Passporn Sukmarg

12. Activity
3. The distance travelled by Chawla in the 16 day trip during which she made
252 orbits of the Earth is
a. 65 million miles
b. 650 million miles
c. 6.5 million miles
4. Kalpana Chawla completed her schooling from
a. Gandhi School
b. Vivekananda School
c. Tagore School
5. The laboratory which was well equipped for conducting
experiments is
a. Space Research Laboratory
b. Space Hab Laboratory
c. Bio-reactor Laboratory

13. Activity
COMPREHENSION AND COMPOSITION
Some events and incidents in the life of Kalpana Chawla
are given below in a jumbled manner. Write them in the
sequence as they occurred in her life.
1. acquiring master’s degree
2. renaming of METSAT after Kalpana Chawla’s name
3. admission to Punjab Engineering College
4. the first flight on board the Columbia
5. Chawla travelling 65 million miles
6. earning a PhD. degree