Kalpana Chawla
8 quotes
Biography
Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-American astronaut, aerospace engineer, and pilot who was the first Indian woman to fly to space. She participated in two spaceflights, STS-87 and STS-107, in 1997 and 2003, respectively.
"The coolest thing for me is the experience of floating and not feeling my weight. And hanging by a window just after sunset and watching the stars in the big black dome of the sky as the earth moves underneath."
"It was starting to get dim outside, so you got to see your own reflection. And there is the Earth, and you can still see the Earth’s surface and the dark sky overhead. And I could then see my reflection in the window and in the retina of my eye the whole earth and the sky could be seen reflected. So I called all the crew members one by one and they saw it, and they said, 'oh wow'."
"YOU ARE YOUR INTELLIGENCE."
"I stopped thinking about it after trying to figure out what are the lessons learned, and there are so many. After I had basically sorted that out, I figured it's time to really look at the future and not at the past."
"The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it."
"Listen to the sounds of nature. Wishing you the best on your trek towards your dreams."
"You are just your intelligence."
"When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system."