Kalpana  Cholera was born in Canal, India. She was born on July 1, 1962. She died  on February 1, 2003 when her space shuttle did not return. Kalpana Chawla went to Tagore School in Karnal, India. She attended  Punjab Engineering School in 1982. She received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

Kalpana Chawla was on two missions. Her first one was in 1997. Her second one was in 2004. On her first misson she was with eighteen people. On her second mission she was with sixteen people. Her second space mission was her last  because her space ship was not able to land.

Kalpana Chawla enjoyed flying, hiking, backpacking and reading. She was married and had no children. She loved space and enjoyed flying with her husband and flying in space. Kalpana's husband's name was Rick Kalpana. Chawla was forty-one when she died.

Kalpana Chawla was at the NASA Amass Research Center in 1988. Kalpana Chawla was selected by NASA on December 17, 1994, to be an astronaut. Kalpana Chawla  was in a group of fifteen astronauts. Kalpana Chawla's last mission was supposed to be from November 19th to December 5th, 2004. Many of her assignments included work on development for robotic situational awareness displays. Both of Kalpana Chawla's missions were on Columbia. Her research was mainly about simulation of complex air flows.

When Kalpana's space shuttle lifted off, a reflective tile fell off. That tile was to help the space shuttle land. When the space shuttle tried to land, it caught on fire, killing all sixteen people on it . Kalpana Chawla died on February 1, 2004 .
 
 

Credits:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/chawla.htm

http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/crew/profile_kalpanac.html
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-107/memorial/chawla.html
Pictures of Kalpana Chawla
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-107/html/jsc2002e25323.html
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-107/html/jsc2002e25927.html