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Kalpana Chawla becomes first Indian woman in space

The US space shuttle Columbia, with six astronauts on board, including India-born Dr Kalpana Chawla, a Japanese and a Ukranian, was successfully launched from the Kennedy space centre in Florida. The weather caused no trouble and the lift-off took place as schedule at 0116 hours IST today, according to mission control.

Chawla, 34, was born in Karnal, Haryana, and is one of the two mission specialists in the vehicle. She will be responsible for the scientific experiments the shuttle will conduct during its 16-day stay in space.

With this flight, Chawla becomes the first Indian woman to go into space. The first Indian was then squadron leader Rakesh Sharma of the Indian Air Force in 1982. Two crew members will undertake a spacewalk during their stay in space.

Chawla was educated in her hometown in Haryana and went on to Punjab University to study aeronautical engineering. She went to the US for higher studies and married an American, Jean-Pierre Harrison. Her parents, two brothers and two sisters live in south Delhi.

An official Indian delegation, led by T P Sreenivasan, deputy chief of its mission in Washington, met Chawla last night at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

"This is a proud moment for India," Sreenivasan told Chawla. She had, he said, added a new chapter to the history of the Indian-American community, which had made significant contributions to different facets of life in the United States.

Chawla, in turn, thanked the people of India and the government for their affection and encouragement and expressed the hope that her flight would further strengthen the co-operation between India and the US.

Chawla and the crew members, who reached the Kennedy space centre on Sunday for the launch, were quarantined before the event. The crew is scheduled to return to earth on December 5 at 0550 hours IST after spending 16 days, 17 hours and 34 minutes in space. It will gather data on the sun's outer atmosphere besides conducting micro-gravity experiments. This will be the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's eighth and last mission this year.

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