Kalpana Chawla
INSPIRATION
Reaching For The Stars
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| Kalpana Chawla |
Kalpana went to a school, the Tagore Bal Niketan. Her childhood life was similar to those of hundreds of other children growing up in India. She was a shy, but cheerful girl with boundless energy and a strong inclination for adventure. She impressed all with her determination and commitment to work. She was an introvert, fun-loving. She enjoy organizing picnics and outings with her friends. She learnt to drive a car when she was only fourteen years old. As a child, Kalpana was fascinated by aircraft. She loved making models of aircraft. As she slept on hot summer nights on the open on coir cot; she would lose herself in the endless dark sky scattered with twinkling stars/
By the time Kalpana left school, she had an impressive academic record. She joined Punjab Engineering College (PEC) in Chandigarh. By then she decided that she will be a flight engineer and design aircraft. So, she took up aeronautical engineering. Then she was the only girl student. Every time she had to make a choice she selected the more challenging one. At college, she was very enthusiastic, pleasant and unassuming who could take to everybody. She spent most of her time in the classroom, the library or the laboratory.
After completion of her undergraduate course, she decided to continue her studies in the United States of America. She decided to attend the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), in 1982, she left her small home town to travel to Texas.
Once in Arlington, Kalpana plunged into the tightly packed routine of the American MS programme.
In December 1983, Kalpana married French-American Jean-Pierre Harrison.
After completing her mater’s programme, Kalpana moved with her husband to Colorado, where she completed her Ph.D. Programme.
In 1988, Kalpana joined the NASA Ames Research Center in California. She also applied to NASA Space Center to become an astronaut. In 1993, she was given a job as vice president and research scientist with Overset Methods, Inc. in the Silicon Valley. She was put in charge of development and implementing techniques for aerodynamic optimization.
Finally, Kalpana was informed by NASA that she was to appear for an interview and medical evaluation that could lead her to the job of an astronaut. She was chosen from a total of 2962 applications. She had worked hard for interview. Eventually she was one of the nineteen candidates to be selected by NASA’s fifteenth batch of astronauts. It was an honour beyond her wildest dreams. The young woman was a pride to the nation and her family.
In March 1995, Kalpana moved to Houston with her husband, to begin her tough journey. She had to spend months in high-fidelity simulators and under zero-gravity conditions.
In November 1997, Kalpana was given a chance, which she had dreamed all her life. She was one of the six crew members on board the Columbia Shuttle’s STS – 87 Mission. She was assigned the job of the prime robotic arm operator. Being mission specialist, she had to monitor experiments conducted on board and perform Extra-Vehicular Activities.
Kalpana was never to forget her first sight of the earth from the shuttle thousands of miles in space. She realized that our planet is really only a very small part of the vast universe. She was a nature enthusiast and never missed a chance to speak about the urgent need to take care of our habitat.
In spite of her hectic schedule at NASA and the pressures of her life, she never forgot her friends or the institutions, she had been associated with. She was a loyal friend who believed in lasting relationships. She stood by her people in different times of her life. She got involved with a programme allowing two students from her school, the Tagore Bal Niketan, to visit the NASA facilities every year. Before her last journey, she had made careful plans to sponsor a young student to a University in South Africa.
She was once again selected as a crew member for the STS-107 launch. The purpose of the 16-day mission was mainly to conduct research on micro-gravity. It was a perfect launch; the members began the work that had been assigned to them. Kalpana conducted a lot of experiments on earth sciences. She even heard to her favourite music CD’s.
On February 2003, Columbia was ready to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere. Kalpana’s family and friends were watching at Cape Canaveral where the shuttle was to land. Suddenly all communication with the Columbia snapped. When it was at a height of 207,135 feet in the sky. The Columbia burst leaving no survivors.
Kalpana was a truly remarkable woman with a rare combination of brilliant mind and intensely humane spirit. She had left behind a legacy of faith in the ability of human beings. She will remain a part of the world’s heritage for the extraordinary will power and daring that she showed in her attempt to reach for the stars.
Questions
1. How did Kalpana Chawla’s family background contribute to the shaping of her personality?
Kalpana Chawla had heard accounts of the problems faced by her immigrant parents, of their courage and hard work, learnt that it is important to believe in one’s dreams and to realize them through grit and determination.
2. What was the first barrier that Kalpana as a child came up against?
She came up with low value attached to education for girls.
3. Write a brief not on early indications in Kalpana’s life of the future that awaited her.
Her immense energy and enthusiastic response to adventure, her determination and commitment to work, fascination for aircraft, her favourite pastime of watching the star-strewn sky.
4. What lasting effect did the view of the earth from space have on Kalpana?
Kalpana struck by the thought that our planet is only a small part of the universe, realised that the earth is vulnerable to destruction unless we take care of our environment and conserve our natural resources.
5. According to those who knew her, when faced with options, Kalpana always chose the more difficult and challenging one. Give two instances from her life to substantiate this option.
Kalpana gave up a comfortable and well- paid job in the Silicon Valley to become an astronaut, after her first voyage aboard the Columbia shuttle, could have chosen to be ground crew instead of deciding to go into space a second time.
6. Kalpana Chawla was 'a rare combination of a brilliant mind and an intensely humane spirit '. Discuss.
Kalpana maintained an impressive academic record right from her school days. She did not ever shy away from challenges and hard work, proved herself as a student and later as a scientist and researcher in the Silicon Valley as well as in the NASA, fine human being as well – a loyal friend. She always willing to listen to others and respect them for themselves, longed to pay back what she saw as her debts to her school and society able to convince any unpleasantness, showed humility rare in one so accomplished, ect.
Meanings
Inspiration - supposed power which stimulates the mind
Reach for the stars – achieving something even though it’s difficult to achieve
Astronaut – a person’s job involves traveling and working in a spacecraft
Perseverance – the quality of continuing to try to achieve an aim in spite of difficulties
Inclination – tendency to do some thing
Adventure – an unusual, exciting or dangerous experience
Outing – a trip that you go on for pleasure or education
Picnic – when people pack a meal and take it to eat outdoors
Fascinated – very interested
Scattered – spread for apart over a wide area for a long time
Twinkling – to shine with light
Plunged – to move up and down suddenly and violently
Legacy – money or property that is given to you by somebody when they die
Snap – lose control or to break something with a sharp noise
Other Great Personalities
include
For Jawaharlal Nehru
For Albert
Einstein
For Kalpana
Chawla
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