Women's Day: Indian women who gave flight to their dreams at NASA

Indian women have contributed greatly to NASA's success in space exploration. Today, on the occasion of International Women's Day we take a glimpse at the life and achievements of these illustrious women who chose to give flight to their dreams and prove to the world that even the sky is not the limit.

Hyderabad: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is one of the premier space agencies in the world. From landing a man on the moon to looking for signs of life on Mars, NASA has achieved historic landmarks on the space front and women have always been an integral part of that progress.

Women like Mary Jackson, NASA's first black female engineer, Nancy Roman, known as the "Mother of Hubble", are some of the women who have a tremendous contribution to NASA's success. At the same time, there are also Indian-born women who have and continue to play there part in that success. Today, on the occasion of International Women's Day we take a glimpse at the life and achievements of these illustrious women who chose to give flight to their dreams and prove to the world that even the sky is not the limit.

• Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman in space. Born in Karnal, Haryana on July 1, 1961, Chawla first went into space in 1997 and become the second Indian person to fly in space after astronaut Rakesh Sharma.

Kalpana Chawla

After completing her Doctorate of philosophy in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado, 1988, She started working for NASA the same year.

Selected by NASA in December 1994, Kalpana Chawla reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 as an astronaut candidate.

In January 1998, she was assigned as crew representative for shuttle and station flight crew equipment, and subsequently served as lead for Astronaut Office’s Crew Systems and Habitability section. She flew on STS-87 (1997) and STS-107 (2003) and has logged 30 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space.

Kalpana Chawla died in 2003 in the Columbia space shuttle disaster. The shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing.

• Sunita Williams

Sunita was born to Dr Deepak and Bonnie Pandya on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio. She started her career as an Ensign in the United States Navy in 1987. Later she joined the Naval Aviation Training Command and was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1989.

Sunita Williams

Williams was deployed onboard USS Saipan when she was selected for the astronaut program. She has logged more than 3000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft.

Selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1998, she reported for training in August 1998.

Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions; she ranks second on the all-time U.S. endurance list for females. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, she is second on the list of total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.

• Swati Mohan

As the world watched the new NASA rover touchdown on the Martian surface, it was Indian American Swati Mohan who virtually spearheaded the successful landing of Perseverance that will search for signs of life on the Red Planet. Swati Mohan has been a member of the Perseverance Rover mission since its inception at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Swati Mohan

Swati Mohan, who also participated in several key NASA missions like the Cassini (a mission to Saturn) and GRAIL (a pair of spacecraft information on the Moon), had immigrated to the US from India when she was just age one and was inspired by Star Trek' series at age 9.

Mohan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University and completed her MS and PhD from MIT in Aeronautics/Astronautics.

Mohan wanted to become a paediatrician until age 16 but she was inspired by her first physics class and saw "engineering" as a way to further her interest in space exploration.

She has been a member of the Perseverance Rover mission since its inception at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world, touched down on Mars on 18th February, after a 203-day journey traversing 472 million km.

• Bhavya Lal

NASA named Indian-American Bhavya Lal as the acting chief of staff of the US space agency on February 1. Lal served as a member of the Biden presidential transition agency review team for the agency and oversaw the agency's transition under the administration of President Joe Biden.

Bhavya Lal

Lal brings extensive experience in engineering and space technology, serving as a member of the research staff at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) from 2005 to 2020.

Lal is an active member of the space technology and policy community, having chaired, co-chaired, or served on five high-impact National Academy of Science committees.

She served two consecutive terms on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Federal Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing and was an External Council member of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program and the Technology, Innovation and Engineering Advisory Committee of the NASA Advisory Council.

Lal also has served on five National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committees including, most recently, one on Space Nuclear Propulsion Technologies that is set for release in 2021.