Talk:Kalpana Chawla

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[edit] Beliefs

I'm curious about the part of User:216.119.134.146 edit where the part reading

"The administrator for the Hindu temple in Houston where Chawla attended when her schedule permitted said "She was a nice lady ... and very pious."

was replaced with

"Kalpana had no interest in religion and did not attend or participate in any such activities - especially after arriving in the United States."

These versions seem rather contradictary. Sources? Wondering, -- Infrogmation 17:44, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It is easy to find, on the web, quotations from her husband, Jean-Pierre Harrison, that appear in newspaper articles after the 2003 groundbreaking ceremony for a university residence hall (at the University of Texas, Arlington) to be named after Kalpana Chawla. There was in his view, contrary to an agreement he felt he had made, a religious portion of this ceremony. He states that he was not pleased by the ceremony -- because Kalpana "was not a religious person, not a Buddhist or a Hindu". I would expect him to be an authority on the religious views of his late wife. This would contradict her religious characterization in the article. So I must ask: What is the source for the claim in the article that she attended Hindu religious services in Houston?Daqu 21:32, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Kalpana had absolutely no interest in and was at best antagonistic towards religion. As far as I know Kalpana never attended any Hindu temple in Houston; the only explanation I can come up with for the above-mentioned quote from the Hindu temple administrator is that this person/organization attempted to used Kalpana's name to promote their own agenda. Kalpana would on occasion leave any event in which any religious ceremony would occur.

Jean-Pierre Harrison


she was hindu. her non-indian husband may not wanna to except that. Whether he like it or not, it's not gonna take away from her heritage.

[edit] Citizenship

The phrase "became a naturalized United States citizen" has twice been removed by anon editor/s. Is the phrase false or inaccurate? Is there a reason it should not be in the article? Please explain. -- Infrogmation 16:15, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Is it for relevance? --Rj 20:37, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

Does she belong in the "Indian Astronauts" category? She was a naturalized US citizen, and was in NASA, the U.S. space corps, not the Indian space corps. -- FelineAvenger 05:26, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] "First..."

"...first astronaut to have been born in India."

This may cause some confusion. Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian in space. See: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SPACE/space-human.html .

There is no confusion since Rakesh Sharma was India's first cosmonaut, so Chawla naturally is the first Indian born astronaut. --PremKudvaTalk 11:05, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I propose that the above sentence be changed to:

"She was the first Indian-born woman in space."

I think this is clearer in stating Dr. Chawla's achievements.

Perhaps Chawla was the first Indian to fly in the space shuttle. Vera Cruz

Probably. Some web sites like to say "first Indian-American" in space, but no doubt for any person in space, you can find some X that satisfies "first X in space", so these kinds of "records" are just pointless. -(

[edit] NPOV

This section at the end "She died a hero and a role-model for many young women, especially in India and particularly those in her hometown of Karnal where she serves to encourage young people to follow in her footsteps." seems way too opinionated for Wikipedia. I have not changed it, mind. Palnu 18:53, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] STS-87

I took out:

==Criticism==
Chawla was criticized for a 1996 accident which sent a satellite tumbling out of control.

I googled for her name + satellite + 1996 and couldn't find incident. Might this be a reference to her work with the Shuttle's robot arm on the Spartan Satellite during STS-87 in 1997? -- Infrogmation 21:38 Feb 1, 2003 (UTC)

http://msnbc.com/news/857733.asp?0cv=CA00#BODY Vera Cruz
On her only other space flight, in 1996, Chawla made mistakes that sent a satellite tumbling out of control, and two spacewalkers had to go out and capture it. Some saw this flight as her chance to redeem herself.
Perhaps MSN has the wrong date?
I guess so. Either way that sentance is no longer in that article when I just looked at it. All sources I checked said her previous mission was in '97. -- Infrogmation 21:56 Feb 1, 2003 (UTC)

I re-integrated it into the STS-87 section.

[edit] 74th Street

Perhaps the reference should be changed to 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens? I haven't seen the street sign there recently, so I won't make the change. As a former resident of Jackson Heights, changing that street name seems a higher probability than any of the many other 74th Streets in New York. An unadorned reference to New York City usually leads people to think of Manhattan. Eddieuny 19:55:32 27 Jul 2005 (UTC)

[edit] date of birth

While this article give the date of birth as 17 March 1962, other language versions say it's 1 Juli 1961, see fr:Kalpana Chawla. --Martinwilke1980 18:37, 28 October 2006 (UTC)


Kalpana's date of birth was 7 March 1962. The 1 July 1961 date is quoted because that is what was used to enroll her in school at a younger than normal age. This manufactured date therefore became part of her official record.

Jean-Pierre Harrison

[edit] Kalpana Chawala

she is rally a fasinating women our whole India i proud of her.

[edit] Kalpana Chwala

she is rally a fasinating women our whole India i proud of her.