Kalpana Chawla’s Birth Anniversary: The nation is paying tribute to the late Indian American astronaut Kalpana Chawla on her birth anniversary. She was the first Indian woman to fly to space. Born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal district of Haryana, Chawla was interested in aerospace engineering from an early age. Her journey from Karnal to NASA continues to inspire people. She embarked on her first space mission on November 19, 1997 in the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was selected for her second space mission (which marked her final flight) on January 16, 2003. She was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
The Samosa Story
This birth anniversary, we are tracing her Indian roots and honouring the legend with a ‘Samosa’ story that you might haven’t heard.
Kalpana was fond of Indian cuisine and especially samosas were her favourite. Not only Kalpana, but astronaut Sunita Williams also loves the popular Indian snack. While Williams openly declared her love for Samosas and even expressed her wish to take them aboard. Kalpana on the other hand, despite her liking for Samosa, avoided taking them into space. Kalpana’s husband, Jean-Pierre Harrison, author of “The Edge of Time: The Authoritative Biography of Kalpana Chawla,” wrote about the same. Harrison said, “Kalpana did not take samosas into space. She did not want to trouble the nutritionists with determining their calorie value, obtaining, and packaging them.”
Williams while declaring her love for Samosa, said, “Indian food! You can never get enough of Indian food… I had to make sure I had samosas in space with me.” Not just this, but during her Starliner mission, Williams again ensured that Indian flavours accompanied her.
Sunita Williams Homecoming
Coincidentally, on Kalpana’s birth anniversary, another Indian origin American astronaut, Sunita Williams is set to return from space after being stuck for 9 months. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced live coverage of Crew-9’s return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). The journey will begin with SpaceX Dragon hatch closure preparations at 10:45pm ET Monday, March 17.
Also Read: NASA To Stream Sunita Williams And Butch Wilmore’s Return From Space – Full Schedule Inside
