India's ever-shining star: Today marks 20 years of Kalpana Chawla's last trip to space

Twenty years have passed since Kalpana Chawla left for space and never came back. She and six other astronauts were aboard NASA's Columbia spacecraft in 2003 when it disintegrated into pieces and fell to Earth's surface while returning from space, killing all seven crew members. The tragedy referred to is the Columbia Shuttle accident. The journey would be Chawla's second and last one into space. She hadn't even turned 40 yet.

Chawla was the first person of Indian descent to travel to space in 1997. (and of South Asian origin). She famously said, "You are only your intelligence," when she was flying in space. Born in the city of Karnal in the Indian state of Haryana, Kalpana Chawla travelled to the United States in the 1980s to continue her education after earning a degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College. She was a devout vegetarian and a devoted Hindu.

The legacy of Kalpana Chawla endures forever and continues to motivate people around. NASA honoured her with the naming of an asteroid, a lunar crater, and a hill on Mars. She has a street in NYC that bears her name. The Punjab Engineering College's female dormitory bears Chawla's name. The Kalpana Chawla memorial was erected by the University of Texas at Arlington in 2010. Chawla earned her master's degree there. A commercial cargo spacecraft with that name was launched in 2020.

Chawla received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor after her passing. She is revered as a national hero in India. For Chawla, the list of accolades and recognition is unending. She brought her favourite CDs from artists like Deep Purple, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with her into space. Chawla said, "When you look at the stars and the cosmos, you feel that you are not just from any one piece of land, but from the solar system," after returning from her maiden voyage to space.

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