Kalpana Chawla

March 17, 1962 – February 1, 2003

Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She was the first Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman in 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 killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.