enjoys flying, hiking, back-packing, and reading
Date of Birth	Karnal, India
Childhood / Family	She is survived by her husband
Education	Graduated from Tagore School, Karnal, India, in 1976. Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, 1982. Came to the United States in 1982 and obtained her Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from University of Texas, 1984. Doctorate of philosophy in aerospace engineering from University of Colorado, 1988.
Occupation	Aerospace engineer and an FAA Certified Flight Instructor
Space Training / Specialty	One year of training and evaluating, Mission Specialist
Contribution to Space Travel	First Indian born woman to travel into space
Space Missions	Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 mission Flight Engineer & Mission Specialist 2 for Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 .
Outside Activities	Enjoyed flying, hiking, back-packing, and reading
Interesting Fact(s)	Space Shuttle Columbia crew member Kalpana Chawla is the second Universtiy of Texas Arlington graduate to travel into space. Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal
Status	Deceased – She was killed in the Columbia crash, February 1, 2003
Images
Links	http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/chawla.html http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/shuttle_chawlabio030201.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/bio_chawla.html http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/crew/profile_kalpanac.html http://www.space-explorers.org/bios/chawla.html http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/txnauts/chawla.html

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