US aerospace agency Northrop Grumman named its subsequent Cygnus capsule after late astronaut Kalpana Chawla
Washington:
An American business cargo spacecraft sure for the Worldwide Area Station has been named after fallen NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the primary India-born girl to enter area, for her key contributions to human spaceflight.
Northrop Grumman, an American international aerospace and defence expertise firm, introduced that its subsequent Cygnus capsule can be named the “S.S. Kalpana Chawla”, in reminiscence of the mission specialist who died along with her six crewmates aboard the area shuttle Columbia in 2003.
“At this time we honour Kalpana Chawla, who made historical past at @NASA as the primary feminine astronaut of Indian descent. Her contributions to human spaceflight have had an enduring influence,” the corporate tweeted on Wednesday.
“Northrop Grumman is proud to call the NG-14 Cygnus spacecraft after former astronaut Kalpana Chawla. It’s the firm’s custom to call every Cygnus after a person who has performed a pivotal position in human spaceflight,” the corporate mentioned on its web site.
“Kalpana Chawla was chosen in honour of her distinguished place in historical past as the primary girl of Indian descent to go to area,” it mentioned.
“Whereas Kalpana Chawla made the last word sacrifice in service to the area programme, her legacy lives on by way of her fellow astronauts and people she has impressed to comply with in her footsteps,” it mentioned.
“Her ultimate analysis carried out onboard Columbia helped us perceive astronaut well being and security throughout spaceflight. Northrop Grumman is proud to have a good time the lifetime of Kalpana Chawla and her dream of flying by way of the air and in area,” it mentioned.
The SS Kalpana Chawla capsule is scheduled to launch on the NG-14 mission atop a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 29. The spacecraft will arrive at and be hooked up to the area station two days later.
For the NG-14 mission, the Cygnus spacecraft will ship roughly three,629 kg of cargo to the area station.
Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana on March 17, 1962. She acquired a Bachelor of Science diploma in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering School in India in 1982.
She then moved to america to pursue her graduate schooling; in 1984 she acquired a Grasp’s diploma in aerospace engineering from the College of Texas, and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the College of Colorado in 1988.
She held business pilot’s licenses for single-and multi-engine aeroplanes, seaplanes and gliders, and was additionally an authorized flight teacher.
Chawla started her profession at NASA in 1988 as a powered-lift computational fluid dynamics researcher on the Ames Analysis Heart in California. Her work focused on the simulation of complicated air flows encountered by plane flying in “ground-effect.”
In 1993, Kalpana Chawla joined Overset Strategies Inc. as vp and a researcher in aerodynamics.
After turning into a naturalised US citizen in April 1991, Chawla utilized for the NASA astronauts corps. She was chosen in December 1994 and reported to the Johnson Area Heart in Houston in 1995 as an astronaut candidate in Group 15.
In November 1996, Chawla was assigned as a mission specialist on STS-87 aboard the Area Shuttle Columbia, turning into the primary girl of Indian descent to fly in area.
Kalpana Chawla’s second spaceflight expertise got here in 2001 when she was chosen for the crew of STS-107. The flight was devoted to science and analysis, with roughly 80 experiments accomplished.
Kalpana Chawla misplaced her life through the STS-107 mission when the Area Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering the Earth’s ambiance.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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