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Kalpana Chawla Death Mystery: Colombia Disaster Counts as The Most Fatal Disaster in the History of Space!!

Kalpana Chawla Death Mystery

Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-origin lady ever to go across the earth’s atmosphere. She was born on today’s date (17 March 1962). She was an Indian-born American astronaut and aerospace engineer.

The first flight Chawla took was in 1997 when she went on Space Shuttle Colombia as a Mission Specialist and primary robotic arm operator. She later died while returning from her second space visit in 2003. Kalpana Chawla’s death mystery has ever since been quite unclear. Even if people have known about the disaster, there are still a few things that the world needs to know.

Kalpana Chawla Death Mystery

Kalpana Chawla Death Mystery

It all started when Kalpana Chawla was recruited for her second space mission in the year 2000. However, the mission was postponed and finally launched on 16 January 2003.

Kalpana Chawla’s Last Flight- STS-107 

Kalpana was sent as a mission specialist on this flight and she was among the seven crew members sent on this mission. This mission was exhausting for the astronauts as they worked vigorously during this mission according to NASA. During this mission:

  • The crew completed 80 missions;
  • They tested NASA’s new technology for recycling water on the young International Space Station;
  • They also did experiments to study the nature of the sun.

Colombia Disaster: The Most Horrendous Disaster in the History of Space 

The space shuttle carrying Kalpana Chawla and other astronauts was headed toward earth intending to land at Kennedy Space Center. While the space shuttle passed through the earth’s atmosphere, the shuttle’s space wing suffered a cavity that led hot air to pass inside the craft. A piece of insulation broke off that damaged the thermal protection system that shields the aircraft from heat during re-entry.

Kalpana Chawla Death Mystery

Crew members that went on the mission along with Kalpana Chawla

The spacecraft broke over Texas and Louisiana before hitting the ground. This was the second significant disaster of the space shuttle program. The most fatal disaster in the history of space was the explosion of the shuttle Challenger in 1986 which exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff killing all seven crewmembers. The Challenger and Colombia disasters count as NASA’s greatest failures.

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