Remembering Kalpana Chawla on her 13th death anniversary: some facts about her

New Delhi :

It has been 13 tragic years since NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas wth it's 7 member crew while re-entering the earth's atmosphere.

It claimed lives of all the seven crew members. Among those who died on February 1 was India's pride Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman in space.

Here are some of the facts that you should know about Kalpana:

• Her nickname was Monto. Though she was famously known by her big name Kalpana Chawla. Her nickname was Monto.
• In 1997, Kalpana first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 as a mission specialist
• On her first mission, Kalpana travelled over 10.4 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 372 hours in space.
• She held many positions in NASA even before becoming an astronaut.
• She became a US citizen and got a PhD before trying to reach space.
• There is an asteroid and satellite named after her. A hill in the Columbia Hills on Mars is named after her as Chawla Hill.

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