- Note - While the world press paid much attention to the
Israeli astronaut on board,
- little was written about this young woman...a true hero
of India...whose loss has
- stunned that nation of over a billion people. -ed
-
- NEW DELHI (IANS) -- The shockwaves felt from the death
of India-born Kalpana Chawla in space shuttle Columbia crash Saturday radiated
from the U.S. to all parts of India with friends, relatives and government
officials expressing grief.
-
- "I am deeply shocked at the tragedy both as a physicist
and as the minister for science and technology," said Minister for
Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi.
-
- "This is very unfortunate that an otherwise successful
mission met with an accident just a few minutes before landing," he
added.
-
- U.S. space shuttle Columbia with a seven-member crew
that included Chawla, 41, disintegrated in flames over central Texas shortly
before it was scheduled to land at Cape Canaversal in Florida.
-
- Born in Karnal, Haryana, Chawla graduated from Tagore
School in 1976. She went to Punjab Engineering College to obtain a degree
in aeronautical engineering.
-
- "It is a very sad moment for us. Kalpana was very
brave and courageous. India has lost a great daughter who would have made
so much difference to the whole world," said I.K. Gujral, former prime
minister of India.
-
- Nuclear scientist and former Atomic Energy Commission
chief R. Chidambaram said he was shocked to hear about the sad news about
Chawla and other astronauts in the space mishap.
-
- K. Kasturirangan, chairman of the Indian Space Research
Organisation, said the crash of Columbia was a big tragedy. "It is
really shocking. This was a man-rated mission."
-
- Added Kasturirangan: "Most unexpected things happen
in space. The need presently is to dispassionately collect and analyse
data to find out what went wrong."
-
- A pall of gloom has descended on Karnal town in Haryana
with prayers being offered even as the worst was feared. Over 100 people
from different walks of life gathered in Tagore School, where Chawla studied,
and offered prayers.
-
- "She was not a very extraordinary student in her
school days but she always used to dream about going to space. No body
could have expected this tragedy," said Adesh Gupta, Chawla's friend
and classmate at Tagore School.
-
- "I still cannot believe that she is no more. It's
a great personal loss to me."
-
- V.N. Rao, administrator of Tagore School, recalled Chawla
was very simple by nature. "She was very down to earth though she
had reached the space. She herself was a star. She was a wonderful student."
-
- Y.S. Chauhan, a professor in Punjab Engineering College,
said Chawla was very passionate about aeronautical engineering. "She
was very bold and dynamic. She was the first woman student in our aeronautical
department."
-
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