{"id":147116,"date":"2026-02-02T03:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T03:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/147116\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T03:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T03:39:08","slug":"astronaut-kalpana-chawlas-legacy-continues-to-motivate-students-23-years-after-death-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/147116\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronaut Kalpana Chawla\u2019s legacy continues to motivate students 23 years after death | Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A sign marking the Kalpana Chawla memorial is displayed outside an exhibit space Jan. 30 in Nedderman Hall. The memorial recognizes Chawla\u2019s legacy as a UTA alumna and NASA astronaut.<\/p>\n

Photo by Joseph Morgan<\/a><\/p>\n

After 23 years, students and staff are still inspired by astronaut and UTA alumna Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman in space. <\/p>\n

On Feb. 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas\u00a0during reentry into Earth\u2019s atmosphere after a 16-day mission, killing Chawla and six other crew members. Now, more than two decades later, students and staff continue to remember Chawla as a determined woman whose legacy motivates the campus community. <\/p>\n

Frank Lu, mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, said he views Chawla as a self-made woman, noting that she comes from a humble background. Chawla was born in India, got her bachelor\u2019s degree at Punjab Engineering College, then moved to the U.S. and got her master\u2019s degree and doctorate, later becoming an astronaut. <\/p>\n

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Photographs of the space shuttle Columbia crew hang on the wall in a memorial honoring Kalpana Chawla on Jan. 30 in Nedderman Hall. Chawla died Feb. 1, 2003, when the shuttle broke apart during reentry.<\/p>\n

Photo by Joseph Morgan<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an inspiration to young people,\u201d Lu said. \u201cI also say that she is an inspiration to young women.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lu had the opportunity to honor Chawla in 2018 by giving a presentation at her alma mater, Punjab Engineering College. While on his visit he got to see the Kalpana Chawla Hostel, plant a tree, which is a great honor in many cultures, and commemorate her in front of students and staff. <\/p>\n

Aero Mavs President Deeva Khanuja said she was impacted by Chawla\u2019s perseverance and how she broke barriers, influencing Khanuja\u2019s decision to attend UTA.<\/p>\n

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Kalpana Chawla\u2019s NASA flight suit is displayed as part of a memorial Jan. 30 in Nedderman Hall. The exhibit highlights Chawla\u2019s career as an astronaut and aerospace engineer.<\/p>\n

Photo by Joseph Morgan<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is a huge reminder that any dream is achievable with hard work, no matter where you go,\u201d Khanuja said. <\/p>\n

Khanuja said she connects Chawla\u2019s qualities and achievements to her own role as president of Aero Mavs, inspiring her to continue to grow the organization and provide a safe space for members. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn Aero Mavs, there’s a stronger focus on teamwork, or innovation or dedication, because that\u2019s what she showed us,\u201d Khanuja said. <\/p>\n

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Portraits and informational panels honoring astronaut Kalpana Chawla line the walls at her memorial display Jan. 30 in Nedderman Hall. Chawla, a UTA alumna, was the first Indian-born woman to travel to space.<\/p>\n

Photo by Joseph Morgan<\/a><\/p>\n

Lincoln Gammage, president of the UTA branch of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said Chawla\u2019s accomplishments are motivating because of her background as a woman in STEM, noting that engineering is typically a male-dominated field. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat marks her as a pioneer, not because of what she did or where she went, but how she got there, how she achieved what she did,\u201d Gammage said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe really lived out the message that you can be whatever you want to be.\u201d <\/p>\n

@_xioany_<\/p>\n

news-editor.shorthorn.@uta.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sign marking the Kalpana Chawla memorial is displayed outside an exhibit space Jan. 30 in Nedderman Hall.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1086,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-147116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-campus","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","11":"tag-fort-worth-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}