It was 13 tragic years ago, that NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas wth it's 7 member crew while re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Among those who died was India's pride Kalpana Chawla who is still considered a shining beacon of hope for all Indian girls. If destiny would not have snatched away her from us with such cruel hands, today Kalpana would have been celebrating her 54th birth anniversary. space.com As we remember her and her contributions to the world in large, here are some facts about the amazing Kalpana:

She held many positions in NASA even before becoming an astronaut

She first moved to US in 1982 after completing engineering in India. There she studied aerospace engineering and joined NASA later. She served in various roles including as the Vice President of Overset Methods, Inc at NASA Research Centre.

Her love for flying led to her career in Space

Kalpana was a certified commercial pilot with license to fly seaplanes and multi-engine air-planes. She also became a certificated Flight instructor and married an American aviation author Jean-Pierre Harrison in 1983.