US Spacecraft named after late Indian-American Astronaut “Kalpana Chawla”

US spacecraft named after late Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla. The great Indian Astronaut though held her last breath in an untimely occurred death but is even fostering pride among all of us even today.

The announcement was done by Northrop Grumman, an American global aerospace and defence technology company. It states that it’s next Cygnus capsule will be named after the name of Kalpana Chawla, the mission specialist who died with her six crew members on board in the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.

A heart-rending accident that felt so drastic although today all the young Indian astronauts are heading to the Kalpana’s path, she is a big inspiration for us.

Company says that, “Northrop Grumman is proud to name the NG-14 Cygnus spacecraft after former astronaut Kalpana Chawla. It is the company’s tradition to name each Cygnus after an individual who has played a pivotal role in human spaceflight”.

The SS Kalpana Chawla capsule is scheduled to launch on the NG-14 mission atop a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 29.

The spacecraft will arrive at and be attached to the space station two days later. For the NG-14 mission, the Cygnus spacecraft will deliver approximately 3,629 kg of cargo to the space station.

Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962 and died on February 1, 2003 she was an American astronaut, engineer, and the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.

In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Chawla was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour, and several streets, universities and institutions have been named in her honour. She is regarded as a national hero in India and one more feather in our cap is today’s news about US spacecraft named after her.

Her first space mission began on November 19, 1997, as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. She spoke the following words while traveling in the weightlessness of space, “You are just your intelligence.”

On her first mission, Chawla travelled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space.
During STS-87, she was responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which malfunctioned, necessitating a spacewalk. A five-month NASA investigation fully exonerated.

Chawla identified errors in software interfaces and the defined procedures of the flight crew and ground control. After the completion of STS-87 post-flight activities, Chawla was assigned to technical positions in the astronaut office to work on the space station.

In 2001, Chawla was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. This mission was repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems such as the July 2002 discovery of cracks in the shuttle engine flow liners.

Many streets, colleges, awards and instituted are named by her name The list is so long but her achievements are unbeatable.

Take a look upon what statements were stated by Northrop Grumman, they said that Chawla was selected in honour of her prominent place in history as the first woman of Indian descent to go to space.
Furthermore they constituted that as Chawla made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the space programme, her inheritance lives on through her associates to those she has inspired.

Kalpana’s final research that was conducted on board of Columbia was about understanding astronaut’s health and safety during spaceflight. Taking same in consideration Northrop Grumman ended saying that they’re proud to celebrate the life of Kalpana Chawla and her dream of flying through the air and in space.