Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-American astronaut, aerospace engineer, and pilot who was the first Indian-born woman to fly to space. She participated in two spaceflights, STS-87 and STS-107, in 1997 and 2003, respectively. On both of these flights, she conducted scientific experiments researching the effects of microgravity on various physical processes. When the crew members in STS-107 descended back to Earth, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated due to damage it sustained at liftoff. This killed all seven astronauts on board, including Chawla.

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