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Kalpana Chawla

Portrait photograph of Kalpana Chawla

Photo: NASA / Public domain (US government work)

Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-born American astronaut, aerospace engineer and pilot, born on 17 March 1962, and the first woman of Indian heritage to fly into space. She flew twice, on STS-87 in 1997 and STS-107 in 2003, and on both flights conducted experiments on the effects of microgravity. She was killed on 1 February 2003 with the six other crew members when Columbia broke up during re-entry, after damage sustained at liftoff. Wikidata records 31 days and 14 hours in space. She was born in Karnal, Haryana, India. Her loss is covered on the Columbia STS-107 page.

Born
17 March 1962
Died
1 February 2003
Country
United States
Flights
2: STS-87 (1997), STS-107 (2003)
Time in space
31 days 14 hours

Data as of 2 November 2026. Source: Wikidata (CC0). All people who have flown in space.

Events

Videos on this topic

The videos, in date order

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  1. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to the Breakup

    Pulstar

  2. Columbia STS-107: How Foam Damage Led to Seven Deaths on Reentry

    Weird History

  3. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to Breakup on Re-entry

    3DCrash

  4. Columbia STS-107: Recovering and Identifying the Crew’s Remains

    Flash Discovery

  5. Columbia’s Last Mission: Foam Strike to Breakup Over Texas

    The Infographics Show

  6. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike and Missed Imagery Led to Loss

    Andy R Animations

  7. Columbia STS-107: Five Failures Behind the Foam Strike on the Wing

    Holes Aligned

  8. Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

    The Record Institute
Play video: Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

The Record Institute

Duration 10:37

Watch video

Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.

All the videos

  1. Columbia STS-107: Recovering and Identifying the Crew’s Remains

    DocumentaryFlash Discovery · 21:48

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  2. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to the Breakup

    DocumentaryPulstar · 53:45

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  3. Columbia’s Last Mission: Foam Strike to Breakup Over Texas

    DocumentaryThe Infographics Show · 21:04

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  4. Columbia STS-107: Five Failures Behind the Foam Strike on the Wing

    DocumentaryHoles Aligned · 6:56

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  6. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike Led to Breakup on Re-entry

    Mission explainer3DCrash · 7:33

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  7. Columbia STS-107: How Foam Damage Led to Seven Deaths on Reentry

    DocumentaryWeird History · 10:53

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  8. Columbia STS-107: How a Foam Strike and Missed Imagery Led to Loss

    DocumentaryAndy R Animations · 1:49:25

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

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