Name of AAPI Figure	Kalpana Chawla
What is the person’s Asian heritage or ethnicity?	Indian American
Area of Influence	Science
Date of birth or time period	17 March, 1962
How did this individual make a contribution to their field or to society/culture at large?	Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. In 1988, she began working at NASA Ames Research Center, where she did computational fluid dynamics research.
Why did you choose this person? What about their story speaks to you?	I chose Kalpana because she was the first Indian woman to go to space.
How does this person inspire you?	Kalpana inspired me because she accomplished her dream to be an astronaut.
What surprised you as you were learning about this person?	Kalpana died in the Columbia shuttle disaster when she was 40 years old.
Resources to share if others want to learn more (optional)–list websites, books, or other resources you used to learn about the person	Sanjay Lakshmanan
Submitted by	8
Age	Winchester, MA
City, State	tewari.geetika@gmail.com