Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla was an Indian American astronaut and the first woman of indian origin to fly in space. Her first space flight was in 1997 on space shuttle Columbia. She was a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. On her first mission, Chawla traveled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space.

In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

In 1998, the astronaut started the tradition of sending two kids from India to NASA every year. She would be a part of the selection and the interview process. Chawla had helped send fourteen Indian children to NASA.