Thirteen Years Ago, The World Lost Kalpana, All 7 Astronauts, in NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia

For me every year, February 1st is the day of the found memories of Kalpana Chawla. On this day, NASA's Columbia Space Shuttle (STS-107) crashed in the skies over Texas and all 7 crew members inside died. Coincidently, I was spending the night of January 31, 2003 in a village in India called Uchi Daud where Kalpana spent her childhood. After the media broke the news on February 1, 2003 that Kalpana died in the space shuttle in the US, the entire village did not cook or eat anything. They were all grieving due to the sudden loss of their village's daughter Kalpana. It amazed me how a small village in the state of Punjab in India had such a strong connections with NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla. 

This incident had a profound impact on me when I watched people from the village skipping meals to mourn the loss of their daughter in the US. It became such a powerful reason that I decided to write a book on the life of Kalpana Chawla. A the research of a year, I completed my book under the title "Among the Stars - Life and Dreams of Kalpana Chawla". 

Kalpana belonged to a family of refugees who had migrated from Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947 and had settled down at the city of Karnal. Kalpana completed her school education at Tagore Bal Niketan, Karnal and obtained a degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. In 1984, she finished her post-graduation from the University of Texas at Arlington. She completed her Ph. D. in 1988 from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She carried the fond memories of these institutions all along her life. Soon after, Kalpana Chawla started work at NASA Ames Research Center. In 1993 she joined Overset Methods Inc., Los Altos, California, as Vice President and Research Scientist. Selected by NASA in December 1994, Kalpana Chawla reported to the Johnson Space Center, Houston.

After the success of her first space flight in Columbia in 1997, she was hailed as the proud daughter of India. Her second flight ended abruptly on February 1, 2003 when Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing. Kalpana’s achievements attracted worldwide attention. She represented not only the India and the USA but also the whole world. She often said, “I was not born for one corner, the whole universe is my native land.” People around the world wept and paid her floral tributes. The US President at that time George Bush said, "Kalpana’s native country mourns her today so does her adopted land…"

The horrific end of shuttle mission STS-107 was a devastating blow to America’s space program; the Challenger explosion led to a 2-year moratorium on launches. 

The names of other six NASA astronauts who died with Kalpana on February 1. 2003 were Ilan Ramon, Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, and David Brown.

Golden Quotes from Kalpana Chawla:-

Kalpana Chawla, during a short span of life, made comments on diverse issues, offered invaluable suggestions, and expressed her opinions on many subjects very frankly and intelligently. Her observations are very inspiring and her opinions are quite profound. Even, Kalpana’s words can help in motivating many others especially students and research scholars. A collection of her quotations has been made from various sources and is reproduced here. Her words are being quoted as they were expressed on different occasions: 

• “I think inspiration and tied with it is motivation, for me, definitely, it comes every day from people in all walks of life. It's easy for me to be motivated and inspired by seeing somebody who just goes all out to do something.” 

• “I never thought while pursuing my studies or doing anything else about being a woman, or a person from a small city, or a different country. I pretty much had my dreams, like anybody else and I followed them.”

• “This is just something I wanted to do. It was very important for me to enjoy it.”

• “What-you-dream-is-what-you-become”

• “The path from dreams to reality does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get onto it, and the perseverance to follow it'”

• “Follow your dream. The people around you may not support you, but you have to make your dream come true come what may.”

• “Just follow your dreams. Don’t worry about whether people encourage you.”

• “When people knew only of earth, they thought it was the center of existence. But with the knowledge that Earth revolves around the Sun, Sun became more powerful (religious symbol) than Earth. Similarly we have many universes and probably more cosmos. Where is the limit to religion? History proves that all races dominated in different areas at different periods. How can anybody say one race or culture is superior than the other?”

• “Religion is something which gives you peace of mind. And to me flying brings tremendous peace and satisfaction. So flying is my religion.”

• “Do something because you really want to do it. If you're doing it just for the goal, and don't enjoy the path, then I think you're cheating yourself.”

• “I was not born for one corner, the whole universe is my native land.”

• “Now is the time and here is the place to work on the foundation of your life, a foundation that will be at once tough and resilient to support your dreams, your vision and your goals.”

• “May you be blessed with a spirit that perseveres in the face of challenges, that doesn’t give up, that endures and strengthens.”

• “If you are really determined to do something, it really is possible.”

• “You just need to put in time and effort, but don’t be too oriented towards the goal. You must enjoy the journey, because whether or not you get there, you really must have fun on the way.”

• “There are people who accept you because it's a novelty and people who discourage you because it's just a novelty. If they can change you--you too, can change them.”

• “Different times during my life I've read books, so read books on diverse subjects to be a perfect parson.”

• “Dream, persevere and succeed.”

• “Work, but work for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of your labor.”

• “That’s the message I’d want to give other women: do something because you really want to do it. So even if it is a goal which is not necessarily within reach - it may be something which only a handful can do — but if you really like what you do, then you’ve never really lost anything.”

• “Its more important to have a proven track record as a scientist rather than knowledge in any specific field. It's how someone tackles a problem that's important.”