Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Chandigarh memorabilia will shuttle into space with Kalpana Chawla
Memorabilia from Chandigarh will be shuttled into space on November 19 as the first Indian woman, Kalpana Chawla, carries her college insignia on her maiden flight on board the Space Shuttle Mission STS-87. Two copies of the insignia of her alma mater, Punjab Engineering College, (PEC), Chandigarh will be on board the Space Shuttle which is due to be launched from the Kennedy space centre in Florida on November 19.
Kalpana had earlier requested the college authorities in Chandigarh to send her memorabilia which could be carried on her space mission. The college, which is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, has sent Kalpana two copies of the college insignia requesting her to return one copy back to the college.
Kalpana has, meanwhile, invited her former teacher and head of department, Professor V. S. Malhotra to witness the launch and the landing of the space shuttle. The landing is due on December 5.
Her present mission includes a SPARTAN satellite deployment and retrieval and a spacewalk by Capt Winston Scott and Dr Takao Doi. This is also the first flight to include a Ukrainian payload specialist.
College teachers recall her fondness for aviation, when she decided to pursue studies in aeronautical engineering wayback in 1978 when fuel students went in for studying the subject. Despite having secured a good grade to get admission to more sought after trades like mechanical and electrical engineering, she preferred aeronautical engineering.
Kalpana was allso one of the first girls to opt for the subject. A former secretary of the Aeronautical Society of the College, she also served on the faculty of the college for some time.
Earlier in 1995, 2962 applications had applied to NASA for participation in the space programme. 122 persons were shortlisted and only six of them were civilians. Armed with a commercial pilots licence for single and multi-engine land airplanes and single engine seaplanes, Kalpana also has a certified flight instructors licence. She has nearly 650 hours of flying experience.
Kalpana joined the MCAT Institute, San Jose, California as a research scientist in 1988 and was responsible for simulation and analysis of flow physics pertaining to operation of powered lift aircraft like the Harrier. In 1993 Kalpana joined OVerset Methods IC., California as Vice President and specialised in simulation of moving multiple body problems Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, she reported to Johnson Space Centre in March 1995 to begin a year of training and evaluation.
Born in 1961 in Karnal, her parents Sangita and Banarsi Lal Chawla reside in New Delhi. Kalpana was a student of Tagore school, Karnal in 1976 and did her Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Punjab Engineering College in 1982.
Professor Malhotra recalls her frantically working with basal and spruce cuttings while preparing a model of an aeroplane. He proudly displays a mounted poster of the Space Shuttle sent to him by his former student, which is also signed by the entire NASA batch.
When Kalpana paid her debt to the college, her former teacher, Prof Malhotra wrote to her -- ``Sky is the limit''. Well, Kalpana seems destined to cross that very limit. As she wrote in her peom on the Atlantis recently,
We don't see your till your engines fire,
And then -
Veil lifted -- the sky around you is lit
a magnificent jewel hanging in the air
etched in my memory forever.
Kalpana had earlier requested the college authorities in Chandigarh to send her memorabilia which could be carried on her space mission. The college, which is celebrating its golden jubilee this year, has sent Kalpana two copies of the college insignia requesting her to return one copy back to the college.
Kalpana has, meanwhile, invited her former teacher and head of department, Professor V. S. Malhotra to witness the launch and the landing of the space shuttle. The landing is due on December 5.
Her present mission includes a SPARTAN satellite deployment and retrieval and a spacewalk by Capt Winston Scott and Dr Takao Doi. This is also the first flight to include a Ukrainian payload specialist.
College teachers recall her fondness for aviation, when she decided to pursue studies in aeronautical engineering wayback in 1978 when fuel students went in for studying the subject. Despite having secured a good grade to get admission to more sought after trades like mechanical and electrical engineering, she preferred aeronautical engineering.
Kalpana was allso one of the first girls to opt for the subject. A former secretary of the Aeronautical Society of the College, she also served on the faculty of the college for some time.
Earlier in 1995, 2962 applications had applied to NASA for participation in the space programme. 122 persons were shortlisted and only six of them were civilians. Armed with a commercial pilots licence for single and multi-engine land airplanes and single engine seaplanes, Kalpana also has a certified flight instructors licence. She has nearly 650 hours of flying experience.
Kalpana joined the MCAT Institute, San Jose, California as a research scientist in 1988 and was responsible for simulation and analysis of flow physics pertaining to operation of powered lift aircraft like the Harrier. In 1993 Kalpana joined OVerset Methods IC., California as Vice President and specialised in simulation of moving multiple body problems Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, she reported to Johnson Space Centre in March 1995 to begin a year of training and evaluation.
Born in 1961 in Karnal, her parents Sangita and Banarsi Lal Chawla reside in New Delhi. Kalpana was a student of Tagore school, Karnal in 1976 and did her Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Punjab Engineering College in 1982.
Professor Malhotra recalls her frantically working with basal and spruce cuttings while preparing a model of an aeroplane. He proudly displays a mounted poster of the Space Shuttle sent to him by his former student, which is also signed by the entire NASA batch.
When Kalpana paid her debt to the college, her former teacher, Prof Malhotra wrote to her -- ``Sky is the limit''. Well, Kalpana seems destined to cross that very limit. As she wrote in her peom on the Atlantis recently,
We don't see your till your engines fire,
And then -
Veil lifted -- the sky around you is lit
a magnificent jewel hanging in the air
etched in my memory forever.
Labels: kalpana chawla
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]