Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space. Kalpana graduated from the Tagore School and was good in academics and moved to the United States in 1982 after completing a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College.
Kalpana has two Masters Degrees to her name. She got her first Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1984, followed by the second in 1986.
She earned her PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Kalpana was assigned as crew representative for shuttle and station flight crew equipment in 1998. She started to serve as the lead for Astronaut Office’s Crew Systems and Habitability section soon afterwards.
On November 19, 1997, Kalpana became the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87.
Picture Credit : Google
