Asian-American Figures-Kalpana Chawla

What inspired Kalpana Chawla to pursue a career in engineering?

• Her interest in flying

• Her father's profession

• Her love for mathematics

• Her interest in space

What significant achievement did Kalpana Chawla accomplish during her first space mission?

• She became the first Indian-born woman in space

• She was the first woman to walk on the moon

• She discovered a new planet

• She was the first woman to pilot a space shuttle

How many orbits of the Earth did Kalpana Chawla and her team complete during her first mission?

• 252

• 150

• 300

• 200

What was the total time Kalpana Chawla spent in space across her two missions?

• 30 days, 14 hours, and 54 minutes

• 15 days, 10 hours, and 30 minutes

• 45 days, 20 hours, and 10 minutes

• 25 days, 5 hours, and 40 minutes

What happened to the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003?

• It broke up during its return to Earth

• It successfully landed back on Earth

• It was lost in space

• It completed a mission to Mars

What does the word pursue mean?

• To wait patiently for something.
• To ignore or neglect something.
• To give up on something.
• To follow or chase after something.

What does the word mission mean?

• A type of military operation.
• A specific task or purpose assigned to be accomplished.
• A journey to a specific location.
• A personal goal unrelated to tasks.

How was Kalpana honored after she died?

• Kalpana's name was removed from all NASA records.
• Some buildings were named for her. She even had a street and an asteroid named after her. And she was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

• She was given a national holiday in her honor.
• Kalpana was awarded a Nobel Prize for her contributions to science.

Why do you think it is important to honor Chawla?

Sequence the important events in Chawla's life.

• She became a U.S. citizen in the 1980s

• Event 4

• They carried out a number of experiments

• Event 3

• Her first mission took place.

• Event 2

• Kalpana began working for NASA in 1988.

• Event 5

• Columbia broke up on return to Earth.

• Event 1