Kalpana Chawla | Astronaut, Engineer

Kalpana Chawla was a renowned American astronaut and engineer. She was the first woman of Indian descent to go to space. Chawla first flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia back in 1997 as a mission specialist and a robotics operator. Unfortunately, she was one of the seven crew members who passed away after a disaster. Nonetheless, she received numerous posthumous awards, including the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Chawla is regarded as a national hero in India. Interestingly, she always dreamt of becoming an astronaut. With all of her hard work, it was only a matter of time until she became the first Indian woman in space. Chawla certainly deserves a ton of credit for persevering and following through on her dreams. She has also inspired millions of Indian women to follow in her footsteps with dreams of one day making it into space.