What she said!👇🏽👇🏽 (fb)

For #AANHPIHeritageMonth, we honor Dr. Kalpana Chawla—a trailblazing engineer, pilot, and astronaut who paved the way for women of color in STEM. Born in Karnal, India, Dr. Chawla developed a passion for space exploration at an early age. She later immigrated to the United States to pursue that dream, ultimately earning a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. On November 9, 1997, she made history as the first woman of Indian descent and South Asian American to fly in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Tragically, during her second space mission in 2003, Dr. Chawla and her fellow crew members passed away when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. In 2020, Northrop Grumman honored her legacy by naming a commercial spacecraft after her. Dr. Kalpana Chawla’s story reminds us of the importance of empowering women and encouraging them to pursue their dreams. 🩷 🔗 Source: National Air and Space Museum: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/kalpana-chawla 🎥: Associated Press | YouTube #WomenArePowerful #FeministFuture (fb)