The Tragic Story of Kalpana Chawla: A Journey from Dreams to the Stars
Do you know how Kalpana Chawla died? What exactly was the cause of her death?
Hello
friends, on February 1, 2003, NASA's Columbia Space Shuttle was returning to
Earth. Onboard were seven astronauts, one of whom was very special for
India—Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla. These astronauts had spent two weeks
in space and were now returning home. Their families and friends eagerly
awaited them. For all of them, this flight was very special, but for NASA, it
was just another routine flight, as this was the 28th mission of the Columbia
Space Shuttle.
It was
8:44 AM, and the space shuttle was re-entering Earth's atmosphere. All systems
were functioning normally, and everything seemed fine. At the space center,
Capsule Communicator (CapCom) Charlie Hobaugh was communicating with the
shuttle. A few minutes later, he spoke to the astronauts about the tire
pressure readings. Mission Commander Rick Husband was about to respond when
suddenly, the line went dead. Only one word was heard from their
end—"Roger" (meaning message received or understood)—and then there
was silence. Charlie Hobaugh tried to re-establish contact, but there was no
response. Ten minutes passed, and despite multiple attempts, there was still no
reply.
The NASA
team at the space center was still unaware of the disaster that had unfolded. A
few minutes later, a call came to the Kennedy Space Center: "Turn on the
TV and watch the news." On the screen, a bright streak of light could be
seen moving towards the ground, resembling a comet breaking apart. The space
shuttle had disintegrated into two large pieces, followed by many smaller
fragments. By 9:12 AM, debris from the Columbia Space Shuttle was falling over
Texas, USA. NASA now realized that a terrible tragedy had occurred. A few hours
later, U.S. President George Bush addressed the nation, saying, "The
Columbia Space Shuttle is lost, and all seven astronauts are no longer with
us."
Among those seven astronauts was Kalpana Chawla, born in India—a woman whose life story continues to inspire millions.
The
Life of Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana
Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in the small town of Haryana, Karnal. Her
family held traditional values. Her parents, Banarsilal Chawla and Sanjyoti
Chawla, had migrated from Pakistan to India during the Partition. They had four
children, and Kalpana was the youngest. When her elder sister took her to
school for the first time, the family had not yet chosen a formal name for her,
everyone at home called her ‘Montu’. So, she chose her own name ‘Kalpana’. No
one knew at that time what great achievements she would make in the future.
Kalpana's
brother, Sanjay Chawla, recalled that she was courageous from her childhood.
Even today, some parts of Haryana give preference to boys over girls, imagine
what the situation must have been like in 1962. Kalpana developed an interest
in space by watching airplanes fly overhead. As a child, she used to visit the
local flying club with her father. Her parents recognized her passion, but her
teachers and family believed she should not pursue a career in this field, as
there were limited opportunities for women. However, no one could stop Kalpana.
She earned
a bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering
College. Despite her family's disapproval, she went to the United States for
her master's degree and completed it at the University of Texas. In 1988, at
the age of 26, she earned a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University
of Colorado and started working at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Her
specialization was in Fluid Dynamics, studying how air flows around aircraft
and their wings. She held multiple pilot licenses, including those for
airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. In 1991, she became a U.S. citizen, and in
1994, NASA selected her for astronaut training from a pool of 4,000 applicants.
In November 1997, after three years of training, Kalpana Chawla made her first
journey into space aboard the Columbia Space Shuttle as part of mission STS-87.
She orbited Earth more than 250 times during this mission. STS stands for Space
Transportation System. It was the official name for NASA's Space Shuttle
program, the fourth human spaceflight program in history. The first three programs were
Mercury (1961-1963), Project Gemini (1965-1966), and Project Apollo
(1967-1972). This Space Shuttle Program was the longest-running human
spaceflight program (1981-2011). The primary goal was reusability, using the
same shuttle for multiple missions instead of building new ones each time. The
two main space shuttles used in this program were Challenger and Columbia.
After the Columbia disaster, NASA also used Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.
Today, these space shuttles can be seen in museums. Columbia was the first
shuttle to go into space in April 1981, and before the disaster, it had
successfully completed 27 missions.
Now, you
might wonder—was it safe to reuse a space shuttle so many times? And was this
the cause of the Columbia disaster?
The answer is No. The STS program was designed specifically for reuse, and after each flight, the shuttles underwent thorough inspection, repair, and renovation if necessary. The Columbia disaster was caused by something very small, which we will now explore.
What Caused
the Columbia Disaster?
Columbia’s
24th flight was Kalpana Chawla’s first space mission. As a mission specialist,
she operated the robotic arm to deploy the Spartan satellite, which was
supposed to study the outer layers of the Sun. However, during deployment, the
1,360 kg satellite became uncontrollable, and it had to be retrieved via a
spacewalk. Although this caused some concern, NASA scientists later praised her
efforts. This mission made her the first Indian woman in space and the first
South Asian American woman to do so.
On January
16, 2003, at 10:29 AM, Columbia launched for the final time from the Kennedy
Space Center. Originally scheduled for 2001, this mission was delayed 13 times
before finally launching in 2003. Mission STS-107 consisted of seven astronauts
who conducted more than 80 experiments over 16 days, focusing on life sciences,
material sciences, and fluid physics.
Now, let’s
answer our main question—how did this disaster happen? Did this
happen due to pilot error?
Did a crew member make a rushed decision?
The truth
is, none of the astronauts were at fault, and just 3-4 minutes before the
disaster, they had no idea anything was wrong. At 8:58 AM, the astronauts
received an alert indicating an issue—there was a loss of tire pressure in the
left wing. This warning came just one minute before Columbia lost contact with
Earth. CapCom Charlie Hobaugh was trying to communicate with the crew about
this.
But here’s
something shocking—although the astronauts didn’t know about the issue, some
NASA personnel had known about it for 16 days, ever since the shuttle’s
launch.
During
liftoff, a small piece of foam insulation—about 60 cm long, 40 cm wide, and
weighing only 750 grams—broke off from the shuttle's external fuel tank and
struck the left wing. Its speed was estimated at 700-900 km/h. Some NASA
engineers requested an inspection of the damage using a surveillance satellite,
but the program manager, Rod D. Dittemore, denied the request. After the
disaster, he resigned in April 2003. In August 2003, the Columbia Accident
Investigation Board (CAIB) released a report stating that the foam piece
created a hole in the wing. Upon re-entry, atmospheric pressure caused this
hole to expand, exposing the shuttle to extreme heat. This led to sensor
failures, a drop in tire pressure, and ultimately, the shuttle breaking apart.
CAIB also noted that similar foam shedding had occurred in 65 out of 75
previous launches, but this time, it struck a critical part of the shuttle,
leading to disaster. Five years after the disaster, another report was
published in December 2008, the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report.
This report revealed that the astronauts died within seconds due to cabin decompression before the shuttle
disintegrated. After this, NASA halted space shuttle missions for 2.5 years and
redesigned the foam insulation.
Kalpana
Chawla strongly believed in promoting science education for girls in India. She
convinced NASA to include students from her school—Tagore Bal Niketan Senior
Secondary School of Karnal—in the NASA Summer Space Experience Program. Since
1998, two girls from this school have been sent to the U.S. for education.
Kalpana even hosted them at her home for dinner.
NASA has
honored the fallen astronauts many times. The place where NASA landed on Mars
is named as Columbia Memorial Station. Not only this, there are many
asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter in space have been named after
these crew members by NASA. That is why even today, there is an asteroid orbiting in
our solar system, named 51826 Kalpana Chawla.
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