US spacecraft to be named after late Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla

The next spacecraft carrying supplies to International Space Station is named after Kalpana Chawla, who died while returning to earth on Columbia space shuttle in 2003

The next spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station will be called SS Kalpana Chawla, after the first woman of Indian descent to go into space.

Human space flight day || Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, STS-107 mission specialist, looks over a procedures checklist in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on 27 January 2003 . (NASA)

“Today we honour Kalpana Chawla, who made history at @NASA as the first female astronaut of Indian descent,” Northrop Grumman, makers of Cygnus space craft that will be carrying the payload, announced in a tweet.

“Her contributions to human spaceflight have had a lasting impact. Meet our next #Cygnus vehicle, the S.S. Kalpana Chawla.”

The lift-off of the new spacecraft to ISS is scheduled for September 29.

Chawla, who was born and raised in Karnal, became the first woman of Indian descent to go to space as a member of the crew of space Shuttle Columbia on January 16, 2003. She and the rest of the crew died on February 1 over southern US when the shuttle broke up on entry to earth, just 16 minutes away from its scheduled landing.

Northrop Grumman said, “It is the company’s tradition to name each Cygnus after an individual who has played a pivotal role in human spaceflight. Chawla was selected in honour of her prominent place in history as the first woman of Indian descent to go to space.”