Kalpana Chawla Quotes

Kalpana Chawla — American Astronaut born on July 01, 1961, died on February 01, 2003

Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman in space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster... (wikipedia)

I stopped thinking about it after trying to figure out what are the lessons learned, and there are so many. After I had basically sorted that out, I figured it's time to really look at the future and not at the past.

When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.

I don't know why I always liked aerospace engineering. I was in the 10th grade when I figured that's what I wanted to do.

Some of the senior people, the very senior astronauts, shook my hand and said, 'K.C., you did a great job. Don't let anyone tell you different.'

I was interested in aerospace and flying, and the U.S. is really the best place in the world for flying.