Born into a conservative family in a provincial town, in Haryana, Kalpana Chawla dreamt of the stars. Through sheer hard work, indomitable intelligence and immense faith in herself, she became the first indian woman to travel into space, and most remarkably to travel twice. A shinning career was tragically cut short in the recent Columbia mishap. In this well researched biography, journalist Padmanabhan talks to people who knew her, family and friends at Karnal, and colleagues at Nasa, to produce a moving portrait of a woman whose life was unique.
Unconventional clothes and bobbed hair were not the only indications of Kalpana's zest for life - this spirited young girl from Karnal wanted to fly! Her intelligence was multi-faceted, her talents varied and her interests inspiring. The path she charted from her traditional home in Haryana to NASA's elite band of astronauts is the stuff of legends.
An Adventure of Intergalactic Proportions! Sunita Williams’s story is one of having to settle for second choices. She grew up wishing to be a professional swimmer. Then she wanted to train as a vet. Instead she went on to join the Naval Academy and serve as a pilot. Before long, however, space was calling. A new dream was born in Sunita. But it wasn’t all cakewalk. The path to becoming an astronaut called for resilience, patience and grit. Sunita had all this and more. As record holder for the longest spaceflight by a woman (195 days), Sunita’s story inspires one to look anew at the world of space missions. And even more than inspiration, she makes life as an astronaut seem thrilling and fun. Anecdotal, informative and pacy, this unputdownable biography, of one of the most famous astronauts of contemporary times, is packed with exciting facts and unusual trivia.
Human space flight is still in its infancy; spacecraft navigate narrow tracks of carefully computed ascent and entry trajectories with little allowable deviation. Until recently, it remained the province of a few governments. As private industry and more countries join in this great enterprise, we must share findings that may help protect those who venture into space. In the history of NASA, this approach has resulted in many improvements in crew survival. After the Apollo 1 fire, sweeping changes were made to spacecraft design and to the way crew rescue equipment was positioned and available at the launch pad. After the Challenger accident, a jettisonable hatch, personal oxygen systems, parachutes, rafts, and pressure suits were added to ascent and entry operations of the space shuttle. As we move toward a time when human space flight will be commonplace, there is an obligation to make this inherently risky endeavor as safe as feasible. Design features, equipment, training, and procedures all play a role in improving crew safety and survival in contingencies. In aviation, continual improvement in oxygen systems, pressure suits, parachutes, ejection seats, and other equipment and systems has been made. It is a core value in the aviation world to evaluate these systems in every accident and pool the data to understand how design improvements may improve the chances that a crew will survive in a future accident. The Columbia accident was not survivable. After the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) investigation regarding the cause of the accident was completed, further consideration produced the question of whether there were lessons to be learned about how to improve crew survival in the future. This investigation was performed with the belief that a comprehensive, respectful investigation could provide knowledge that can protect future crews in the worldwide community of human space flight. Additionally, in the course of the investigation, several areas of research were identified that could improve our understanding of both nominal space flight and future spacecraft accidents. This report is the first comprehensive, publicly available accident investigation report addressing crew survival for a human spacecraft mishap, and it provides key information for future crew survival investigations. The results of this investigation are intended to add meaning to the sacrifice of the crew's lives by making space flight safer for all future generations. Many findings, conclusions, and recommendations have resulted from this investigation that will be valuable both to spacecraft designers and accident investigators. This report provides the reader an expert level of knowledge regarding the sequence of events that contributed to the loss of Columbia's crew on February 1, 2003 and what can be learned to improve the safety of human space flight for all future crews. It is the team's expectation that readers will approach the report with the respect and integrity that the subject and the crew of Columbia deserve.
Sunita Williams is the second woman astronaut of Indian descent chosen by NASA for a space mission. The first one was Kalpana Chawla. The only difference is that Kalpana was born and brought up in India and had Indian parents while Sunita was born in America. Her father is an Indian from Gujarat while her mother is from Slovakia. She is also the second woman astronaut of Slovakian origin, the first being Ronald M. Sega.
He is ten years old and confined to a wheelchair. But that's not his identity. To the world, he is India's youngest patent holder for inventing variants of chess for six, twelve and sixty players. Have you heard of the Army Major who was declared dead in the Kargil war, but is India's first blade runner today? Do you think a woman without hands can be one of India's leading painters? What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you see a differently-abled person? Pity? Sympathy? The real-life success stories of fifteen differently-abled people charted in Because Life is a Gift will make you think otherwise. You will sense pride replace all feelings of pity and sympathy for they have fought against all odds to achieve their dreams. This book is a tribute to their courage, passion and zest for life. They will challenge your notion of the impossible. They will inspire you to live lifeto the fullest, because life is truly a gift.
Rick Husband wanted to be an astronaut since his fourth birthday, but it wasn't always for the right reasons. Initially, he thought it would be neat . . . cool . . . a fun thing to do. It wasn't until he came to a spiritual crossroads and was able to give that dream up to discover the true desires of his heart before he actually got into the space shuttle program at NASA. Three failed attempts didn't daunt this driven pilot-and the fourth interview process, though lengthy and difficult, proved successful for him. Husband's years at NASA served not only to develop his integrity and character, but also to increase his faith in a Creator that could not be denied in the vastness of space. His story is not only inspirational but exhilarating and invigorating, as readers will witness the life of a man who consistently pursued the desires of his heart even as he served a faithful God.
