Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla, 41, who died in the Columbia mishap, was an aerospace engineer and an FAA Certified Flight Instructor. Chawla served as Flight Engineer and Mission Specialist 2 for STS-107. She received a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, in 1982, a master of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas-Arlington in 1984, and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 1988. As a member of the Red Team, Chawla, with CDR Rick Husband, was responsible for maneuvering Columbia as part of several experiments in the shuttle's payload bay.

Chawla also worked with the following experiments: Astroculture (AST); Advanced Protein Crystal Facility (APCF); Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG_PCF); Biotechnology Demonstration System (BDS); ESA Biopack (eight experiments); Combustion Module (CM-2), which included the Laminar Soot Processes (LSP), Water Mist Fire Suppression (MIST) and Structures of Flame Balls at Low Lewisnumber (SOFBALL) experiments; Mechanics of Granular Materials (MGM); Vapor Compression Distillation Flight Experiment (VCD FE); and the Zeolite Crystal Growth Furnace (ZCG). Selected by NASA in December 1994, Chawla was the prime robotic arm operator on STS-87 in 1997, the fourth U.S. Microgravity Payload flight. STS-87 focused on how the weightless environment of space affects various physical processes. Prior to STS-107, Chawla logged more than 376 hours in space Columbia Home Page

Jerusalem, 2 February 2003

Remarks by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about the Columbia Space
Shuttle at the Cabinet Meeting

Yesterday, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Israel time,
communication was lost with the Space Shuttle Columbia. On board the
Space Shuttle were seven astronauts, among them Col. Ilan Ramon, the
first Israeli astronaut.

>From the moment that we learned of the loss of contact, we followed,
together with the rest of the citizens of the world, in trepidation,
hope and prayer, the updates which reached us from the space agency
until the bitter moment when there was no doubt that the seven
astronauts were killed in the space shuttle explosion.

I wish to send from here, on behalf of the government and people of
Israel, our sincere condolences to the families of the American
astronauts, to the President of the United States, George Bush, and
to the people of the United States. Times such as these strengthen
the bonds of our common fate, values and vision, all of which were
realized in Col. Ilan Ramon's journey into space.

Unfortunately, I did not get to know Ilan as well as I would have
wished. But I knew about his past as a bold fighter pilot and an
outstanding commander.

I spoke to Ilan a number of times before he took off on his last
mission, and I spoke to him while he was on board. In my conversations
with Ilan, I recognized a man of values. A man who dearly loved his
people and country. A man who did not deserve to be taken from us,
along with our hopes, dreams, history and future, to a place beyond
that which we could ever have imagined.

Last night I spoke with Ilan's father, Eliezer and his wife, Rona.
I am sure that you all join me in extending condolences to this
wonderful family, a family of which we are all proud.

The seven astronauts who were killed yesterday in the Space Shuttle
Columbia disaster, are part of the heavy price paid by the human race
in its quest for knowledge, and in our search to explore other worlds.

Their deaths were not in vain. Man's journey into space will continue. Cooperation between the United States and Israel in this field will
also continue.

The day will come when we will launch more Israeli astronauts into
space. I am sure that each and every one of them will carry in his
heart the memory of Ilan Ramon, a pioneer in Israeli space travel.

All the people of Israel bow their heads in memory of Col. Ilan Ramon
and the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, heroes of manned space
flight.