Essay on Kalpana Chawla: The first Indian woman to step into Space, Kalpana Chawla was born on 17th March 1962 at Karnal, Haryana. She was an American astronaut who first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist. She died a tragic death in 2003 along with her seven crew members who accompanied her on board Space Shuttle Columbia. The space shuttle disintegrated during its re-entry into Earth, and the Government considered her as the national hero of India.
Essay on Kalpana Chawla 500 Words in English
Below we have provided Kalpana Chawla Essay in English, written in easy and simple words for class 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 school students.
Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-American woman with a dauntless vision to circumnavigate space and discover new things. Since childhood, she was determined to fulfil her dream and be an astronaut. Her constant aspiration to place her foot on the moon furnished her with grit and courage and with an indomitable belief, she achieved her desire to become an astronaut and experience space closely.
Childhood and Education
She was born on 17th March, in Karnal Haryana. Her nickname in childhood was a starry-Eyed girl because she used to gaze stars in the night with her siblings. As a child, she was fascinated by aeroplanes and flying. From then on, she made up her mind on unravelling the questions of space and planets. She consistently kept on pounding herself to unearth the possibilities and overcome all the obstacles in her way. She graduated from Tagore school in 1976 where she was a high-scorer and bright student.
After completing her engineering degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India. She shifted to the United States of America in 1982, and there she finished her Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in 1984. Later she even completed her second master in 1986 and PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Her first opportunity to fly in space arrived in November 1997, aboard the space shuttle Columbia on flight STS-87. The shuttle successfully made 252 orbits of the Earth in just over two weeks. The satellite which studied the outer layer of the Sun malfunctioned due to which two other astronauts had to perform a spacewalk to recapture it.
Disaster Strikes
In 2000, she was selected for second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. This mission was delayed several times because of a technical problem but finally got approval and was launched in 2003. The team completed more than eighty experiments over the 16-day flight. While returning to Earth on February 1, 2003, the space shuttle insulation had broken off and damaged the thermal protection system. As the shuttle passed the atmosphere, hot gas entered inside, causing a break-up in the wing. The unstable shuttle could not handle it and broke up killing the crew before plunging into the ground.
This accident was the second disaster following the 1986 explosion of the shuttle challenger. Along with her, the other ones who died were Pilot William C McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, mission specialist David M. Brown and Laurel B. Clark and Commander Rick D. after the disaster; flight operations were called off and suspended for two years. She worked for 30 days, 14 nights, and 54 minutes in space.
Conclusion
In her words, she stated that-“Do something because you really want to do it. If you are doing it just for the goal and don’t enjoy the path, then I think you’re cheating yourself.” She had immense faith in her dreams and never got discouraged. She always believed in witnessing, experiencing and enjoying the journey towards reaching the goal.
Moreover, she had made a bigger picture of herself in her mind and felt that she was not born for one corner but to explore the entire universe. Her work was as a service to all humanity. In all her pursuits, she was focused to think out of the box and penetrate through every hurdle that came across. Her work is an inspiration and motivational aspect for the young girls and woman to dream big and break the glass ceiling by surpassing society’s notions and biased attitude. Regarding dreams, she says that “The path from dreams to success does exist. May you all have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”
10 Lines on Kalpana Chawla Essay in English
- Though Kalpana Chawla was born in India, she had American citizenship.
- Since childhood, her only dream was to become an Aeronautical Engineer.
- Her first space mission was in ‘Space Shuttle Columbia’. (STS-87)
- She was a fearless and courageous woman who broke society’s norms.
- Her curious mind always persists her to achieve significantly and think differently.
- She was a first Indian-American woman to go to space.
- When she took the first flight, she believed that we don’t exist, but we are part of a vast galaxy.
- She was selected in second mission in 2001.
- NASA has developed a supercomputer in memory of Kalpana Chawla.
- In 2003, she died in space shuttle along with other crew members.