Bon Voyage
Bon Voyage
Introduction:
‘The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.’ - H W Longfellow
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”, said Neil Armstrong, stepping on to the moon’s surface on 21st, July 1969.
Kalpana Chawla steeped into space, not once but twice. It proved to be a great leap for womankind especially for Indian woman. It was the bridge between the impossible and the possible. Kalpana said, “You can’t cross a great chasm in two short steps; it needs one big leap.”0
Birth: Kalpana Chawla was born on the 1stof July 1961 in Karnal, Haryana, into a middle class family, the youngest of four siblings.
She maintained a brilliant academic record throughout school.
She took part in almost everything, from athletics to dance and science modeling.
Dreams in Childhood: ‘A strong desire to travel beyond the blue yonder, to fly into the heavens and touch the stars some day .......’ was all that Kalpana Chawla dreamt of even as a child. Even as a young girl she preferred to sketch and paint airplanes than dress up her Barbie dolls. A close friend remembers that Chawla often spoke about traveling to Mars as being her greatest ambition. Not only did she dare to dream, but she also went the distance to fulfill her motto, ‘Follow your dreams’.
Education: Kalpana graduated from Tagore school, Karnal, in 1976. She went on to pursue her Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical engineering through Punjab Engineering College. She happened to be the only girl in the aeronautics branch. Though her family initially resisted her decision to pursue a career in aeronautics, they finally relented, knowing her determined nature. This led on to a Master of Science degree in Aerospace engineering from Texas University in 1984, again after having to fight it out with her father who was very
Introduction:
‘The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.’ - H W Longfellow
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”, said Neil Armstrong, stepping on to the moon’s surface on 21st, July 1969.
Kalpana Chawla steeped into space, not once but twice. It proved to be a great leap for womankind especially for Indian woman. It was the bridge between the impossible and the possible. Kalpana said, “You can’t cross a great chasm in two short steps; it needs one big leap.”0
Birth: Kalpana Chawla was born on the 1stof July 1961 in Karnal, Haryana, into a middle class family, the youngest of four siblings.
She maintained a brilliant academic record throughout school.
She took part in almost everything, from athletics to dance and science modeling.
Dreams in Childhood: ‘A strong desire to travel beyond the blue yonder, to fly into the heavens and touch the stars some day .......’ was all that Kalpana Chawla dreamt of even as a child. Even as a young girl she preferred to sketch and paint airplanes than dress up her Barbie dolls. A close friend remembers that Chawla often spoke about traveling to Mars as being her greatest ambition. Not only did she dare to dream, but she also went the distance to fulfill her motto, ‘Follow your dreams’.
Education: Kalpana graduated from Tagore school, Karnal, in 1976. She went on to pursue her Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical engineering through Punjab Engineering College. She happened to be the only girl in the aeronautics branch. Though her family initially resisted her decision to pursue a career in aeronautics, they finally relented, knowing her determined nature. This led on to a Master of Science degree in Aerospace engineering from Texas University in 1984, again after having to fight it out with her father who was very