Remembering Kalpana Chawla, The Lady Who Touched the Sky

Born in Karnal, India, Chawla died on February 1, 2003, over the southern United States when Space Shuttle Columbia and the crew perished during entry, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing. She is survived by her husband. Chawla was an enthusiastic hiker, back-packer and reader. She held a Certificated Flight Instructor's license with airplane and glider ratings, Commercial Pilot's licenses for single- and multi-engine land and seaplanes, and Gliders, and instrument rating for airplanes. Remembering her on her death anniversary.

A file photo shows Kalpana Chawla, sitting center with long hair, next to her classmates at Tagore Baal Niketan School, in Karnal. Chawala was a former student of the school, which sponsors two girls to visit NASA each year. The Indian-born Chawla was one of the seven astronauts killed when Space Shuttle Columbia broke up upon reentry February 1, 2003, over Texas. (Image: Getty Images)

Kalpana Chawla, Space Shuttle mission specialist for STS-107, poses for a picture at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Image: Getty Images)

Flight engineer Kalpana Chawla answers reporters' questions during a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. (Image: Getty Images)

The STS-107 crewmembers pose for their traditional in-flight crew portrait in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module (RDM) aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in space. (L to R) (bottom row), wearing red shirts to signify their shift color, are astronauts Kalpana Chawla, Rick D. Husband, Laurel B. Clark, and Ilan Ramon. (L to R) (top row) wearing blue shirts, are astronauts David M. Brown, William C. McCool, and Michael P. Anderson. Ramon represents the Israeli Space Agency. (Image: Getty Images)

Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the STS-107 mission specialist, looks over a procedures checklist in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia In Space. (Image: Getty Images)

Astronauts Kalpana Chawla and Laurel B Clark, both Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 mission specialists, are photographed prior to a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. (Image: Getty Images)

Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, and six members of his Columbia crew (L-R) Astronauts Michael P Anderson, William C. McCool, Rick D Husband, David M Brown, Laurel B Clark and Kalpana Chawla stand together as they attend a party for crew members and their families one day prior to launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Image: Getty Images)

Sanpreet Kaur and Namita Alung, students of Tagore Baal Niketan School, posing with astronaut Kalpana Chawla and her husband in Houston, Texas. (Image: Getty Images)

Tagore Baal Niketan School Director Vimla Raheja and Deputy Director Daljit Madan, who taught astronaut Kalpana Chawla, stand next to a memorial school board in Karnal. Chawala was a former student of the school, which sponsors two girls to visit NASA each year. (Image: Getty Images)

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe visits Arlington National Cemetary to lay a wreath honoring the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia in Arlington, Virginia. (Image: Getty Images)

Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, a 41-year-old flight engineer and mission specialist for Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107, poses for a formal photograph in an unspecified location. (Image: Getty Images)

This image from NASA video shot by Shuttle Mission Specialist Laurel Clark shows Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla and Commander Rick Husband on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Columbia shortly before reentry February 1, 2003, while in space. The 13-minute video was found in the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Columbia near Palestine, Texas five days after the Shuttle broke apart. (Image: Getty Images)

NASA Mission Control lost contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia during the reentry phase of mission STS-107 February 1, 2003, and later learned that the shuttle had broken up over Texas. Debris from the wreckage drifted hundreds of miles from central Texas to Louisiana. All seven astronauts onboard the Shuttle died in the crash. (Image: Getty Images)