Kalpana Chawla (1962 - 2003)
American astronaut and aerospace engineer;
first woman of South Asian origin to fly to space;
one of the seven crew members who died in the
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster;
posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor,
the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Such a completely avoidable tragedy, such a loss.
ReplyDelete🫡 Chawla, and the 6 other heroes with her on Columbia, knew from their lift-off that the damage they suffered could prove fatal on re-entry. But, heroes of science keep going. Chawla conducted her research like a champ.
ReplyDeleteAs an engineer, she undoubtedly accepted the premise that failure is learning. We study our tragedies to prevent the next one. I'm just sorry she became one of those tragic realities. 😕
Such a tragedy. I get that there are inherent risks in pushing the envelope of space travel, but... still a tragedy. She was a beautiful woman, indeed.
ReplyDeleteWell at least we have Katy Perry becoming an astronaut now. Lol.
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