1st Indian-origin woman to go to space was born on this day
The first Indian-origin woman in space, Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962. Chawla moved to the United States in 1982 and joined NASA in 1988. Describing her first mission in space, she said, "You are just your intelligence", on experiencing weightlessness. The astronaut died with six crew members on her second mission aboard the Columbia spacecraft in 2003.