Talk:Kalpana Chawla

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Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 01:35, 17 January 2022 (UTC) Reply

I'm curious about the part of User:216.119.134.146 edit where the part reading

"The administrator for the temple in Houston where Chawla attended when her schedule permitted said "She was a nice lady ... and very pious."

was replaced with

"Kalpana had no interest in religion and did not attend or participate in any such activities - especially after arriving in the United States."

These versions seem rather contradictary. Sources? Wondering, -- Infrogmation 17:44, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)of curse yes

It is easy to find, on the web, quotations from her husband, Jean-Pierre Harrison, that appear in newspaper articles after the 2003 groundbreaking ceremony for a university residence hall (at the University of Texas, Arlington) to be named after Kalpana Chawla. There was in his view, contrary to an agreement he felt he had made, a religious portion of this ceremony. He states that he was not pleased by the ceremony -- because Kalpana "was not a religious person, not a Buddhist or a Hindu'". I would expect him to be an authority on the religious views of his late wife. This would contradict her religious characterization in the article. So I must ask: What is the source for the claim in the article that she attended Hindu religious services in Houston?Daqu 21:32, 25 December 2006 (UTC) Reply

One Source: A Muse for Indian Women; Los Angeles Times; Feb 2, 2003:

"Chawla was a member of the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society near Houston, attending when her schedule permitted, temple officials said. The temple will hold a traditional service today to pray for the peace of her soul and those of the other astronauts killed, said P. Ramalingam, administrator for the temple. "She was a nice lady ... and very pious," Ramalingam said."

(Just offering ref; not commenting on inclusion in article.) -- ToE 11:14, 21 February 2023 (UTC) Reply

Kalpana had absolutely interest in and was at best antagonistic towards religion. As far as I know Kalpana never attended any religious temple in Houston; the only explanation I can come up with for the above-mentioned quote from the temple administrator is that this person/organization attempted to used Kalpana's name to promote their own agenda. Kalpana would on occasion leave any event in which any religious ceremony would occur.

Jean-Pierre Harrison

she was Sikh . her non-indian husband may not wanna to except that. Whether he like it or not, it's not gonna take away from her heritage.

Here heritage was Sikh , I'm sure her husband doesn't deny it), but she evidently was not religious and you should accept that. Plch (talk) 14:52, 14 May 2009 (UTC) Reply

Her ethnic origins did not ensure that she remained religious in this regard - her husband's statements would trump your personal views. 104.169.17.29 (talk) 02:38, 1 February 2017 (UTC) Reply

The phrase "became a naturalized United States citizen" has twice been removed by anon editor/s. Is the phrase false or inaccurate? Is there a reason it should not be in the article? Please explain. -- Infrogmation 16:15, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Is it for relevance? --Rj 20:37, Dec 14, 2004 (UTC)

Does she belong in the "Indian Astronauts" category? She was a naturalized US citizen, and was in NASA, the U.S. space corps, not the Indian space corps. -- FelineAvenger 05:26, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Does she belong in the "Indian scientists" category? (Same reasoning as above). -- Zigzackly (talk) 22:45, 6 April 2014 (UTC) Reply

"...first astronaut to have been born in India."

This may cause some confusion. Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian in space. See: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SPACE/space-human.html .

There is no confusion since Rakesh Sharma was India's first cosmonaut, so Chawla naturally is the first Indian born astronaut. --PremKudva ^Talk 11:05, 31 October 2006 (UTC) Reply

I propose that the above sentence be changed to:

"She was the first Indian-born woman in space."

I think this is clearer in stating Dr. Chawla's achievements.

Chawla was the first Indian to fly in the space shuttle. Vera Cruz

Probably. Some web sites like to say "first Indian-American" in space, but no doubt for any person in space, you can find some X that satisfies "first X in space", so these kinds of "records" are just pointless. -(

I know this is a late reply...but Premkudva the English genius probably DOESN'T realise that cosmonaut is Russian for Astronaut.... --Rsrikanth05 (talk) 09:44, 19 March 2009 (UTC) Reply

This section at the end "She died a hero and a role-model for many young women, especially in India and particularly those in her hometown of Karnal where she serves to encourage young people to follow in her footsteps." seems way too opinionated for Wikipedia. I have not changed it, mind. Palnu 18:53, 3 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I took out:

==Criticism==

Chawla was criticized for a 1996 accident which sent a satellite tumbling out of control.

I googled for her name + satellite + 1996 and couldn't find incident. Might this be a reference to her work with the Shuttle's robot arm on the Spartan Satellite during STS-87 in 1997? -- Infrogmation 21:38 Feb 1, 2003 (UTC)

http://msnbc.com/news/857733.asp?0cv=CA00#BODY Vera Cruz

On her only other space flight, in 1996, Chawla made mistakes that sent a satellite tumbling out of control, and two spacewalkers had to go out and capture it. Some saw this flight as her chance to redeem herself.

Perhaps MSN has the wrong date?

I guess so. Either way that sentance is no longer in that article when I just looked at it. All sources I checked said her previous mission was in '97. -- Infrogmation 21:56 Feb 1, 2003 (UTC)

I re-integrated it into the STS-87 section.

Perhaps the reference should be changed to 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens? I haven't seen the street sign there recently, so I won't make the change. As a former resident of Jackson Heights, changing that street name seems a higher probability than any of the many other 74th Streets in New York. An unadorned reference to New York City usually leads people to think of Manhattan. Eddieuny 19:55:32 27 Jul 2005 (UTC)

While this article give the date of birth as 17 March 1962, other language versions say it's 1 Juli 1961, see fr:Kalpana Chawla. --Martinwilke1980 18:37, 28 October 2006 (UTC) Reply

Kalpana's date of birth was 7 March 1962. The 1 July 1961 date is quoted because that is what was used to enroll her in school at a younger than normal age. This manufactured date therefore became part of her official record.

Jean-Pierre Harrison

Why is her date of birth in the box listed as 17 March 1961, but the article body says "17 March 1962" was her actual date of birth?

GigaG (talk) 02:28, 5 May 2021 (UTC) Reply

This is now defunct. Still worth leaving there though, because I think there was one edition. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.224.246.155 (talk) 11:06, 27 August 2012 (UTC) Reply

Possibly consider adding more information to her death. Adding a one to two sentence overview on the Columbia disaster could be beneficial for people finding quick information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gerrittluoma (talk • contribs) 18:44, 16 November 2017 (UTC) Reply

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change Punjab to Harayana. 68.181.88.1 (talk) 07:53, 12 March 2018 (UTC) Reply

Not done Haryana did not exist until 1966 so, as Chawla was born in 1962, she could not have been born there. - Arjayay (talk) 13:30, 12 March 2018 (UTC) Reply

Per MOS:OPENPARABIO we need to include her citizenship here, not her ethnicity. Unless there is reliably sourced evidence that she maintained an Indian passport as well as her US citizenship, she is considered an American, with ethnicity to be discussed in her early/personal life sections. Elizium23 (talk) 13:59, 1 February 2021 (UTC) Reply

Is the first syllable of Chawla's surname pronounced to rhyme with jaw or with chav? Would the phonetic spelling be chaw-la or chav-la (or even something else)?

NASA recordings of her colleagues talking to her are unhelpful because they addressed her as "KC" (her initials; sounds like "Casey").

Reliable source(s) for replies would be appreciated (not original research or speculation). Thank you. Spideog (talk) 00:32, 5 September 2024 (UTC) Reply

Hello! I am planning on improving this article. My main goals are to expand the article and improve its sources. I will be working in my sandbox, so there will probably be a huge edit coming through once I'm done. You can check on my progress there. I am a fairly new editor, so I apologize if I make mistakes. If there are issues with my edits, please let me know and we can discuss it here. Thank you! Spookyaki (talk) 04:42, 9 November 2024 (UTC) Reply

Okay, edits complete. Many aspects of the article have been rewritten and reorganized. Some notable things:

• I decided to change the date format to MDY per MOS:DATETIES. Chawla was an American citizen when she did most of the things she's notable for, and it seems pretty clear to me based on my research that she considered herself an American, at least in her capacity as an astronaut:

  Chawla became a naturalized US citizen in 1990, but many in India still consider her a hero of India. They almost always ignore that she had to give up her Indian citizenship and become a US citizen before she could even apply to become an astronaut. Chawla said, "I think for a lot of people there’s confusion," adding that before her first mission, people would call her mother and ask if they could talk to Kalpana please, because they thought she was still in New Delhi. She understands why people in India still feel a connection with her: "It’s understandable. I was born there; I grew up there for 20 years. If some people feel possession as a result of that, it is not anything unexpected." But she was always quick to explain to people, "I am part of the US astronaut corps." (Chien 2006)

• I converted the "Honours and recognition" and "In popular culture" into a single section, "Legacy", and tried to order it as chronologically as I could. I also converted most of it into paragraph form. Some claims here were poorly sourced or not particularly relevant, so I removed them.
• The "Personal life" section is mostly covered in the "Early life and education" section now, so I have removed it.

Again, thank you everyone for your patience. If there are any problems with my edits, feel free to let me know. Spookyaki (talk) 21:36, 25 November 2024 (UTC) Reply

YOU DID NOT HAVE CONSENSUS TO CHANGE DATE FORMAT. DO IT AGAIN AND YOU WILL BE BARRED FROM EDITING.07:05, 1 December 2024 (UTC) Abebenjoe (talk) 07:05, 1 December 2024 (UTC) Reply

Hostility like that is out of line and someone who's been editing since 2006 should know better. Sgubaldo (talk) 15:52, 1 December 2024 (UTC) Reply

I found no proof in her NASA official biography, nor other sources cited, that she was required to obtain a second Masters Degree before doing her Ph.D in Colorado. If it is questionable, the NASA biography, for Wikipedia standards, is the authoritative source, as they would list all her degrees. There is no mention of a second Masters Degree from the University of Colorado. – Abebenjoe (talk) 08:34, 20 November 2024 (UTC) Reply

The CU Boulder Alumni Association has her listed as receiving a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1986 before her PhD in 1988. https://www.colorado.edu/coloradan/2023/03/06/twenty-years-rememberance OrbitingJupiter (talk) 18:21, 3 February 2025 (UTC) Reply

Hi all! I was not aware that consensus was required before date format changes, so I apologize. Since that's the case, I'd like to open it up to other editors. Should the date format be changed from DMY to MDY? My argument in favor is above, per MOS:DATETIES. Do folks agree or object? Spookyaki (talk) 14:44, 1 December 2024 (UTC) Reply

I would support changing to MDY. While Chawla was born in India, the activities she is notable for were done in the United States. NASA also uses MDY dates for its public facing materials as far as I am aware. If you want to get more opinions, you could try posting a notice on WikiProject Spaceflight or other relevant ones. Sgubaldo (talk) 16:06, 1 December 2024 (UTC) Reply

Currently 2:1 in favor of MDY. Technically a majority, but not what I would call consensus. I won't change it for now, but if more people have thoughts, feel free to add them. Spookyaki (talk) 05:44, 13 December 2024 (UTC) Reply

Changing to MDY seems perfectly reasonable to me (as has already been noted, Chawla has a strong connection to the U.S, and the majority of her biography covers life events that took place after her immigration to the U.S.). I would support. Alanna the Brave (talk) 14:56, 13 December 2024 (UTC) Reply

• Suport MDY. The article seems to be written in American English ("honor" etc), though there is no template to say so, so US-type MDY dates would be consistent. Pam D 21:16, 23 January 2025 (UTC) Reply

4:1 seems more like consensus. I'll go ahead and make the change. Spookyaki (talk) 22:47, 23 January 2025 (UTC) Reply

I've just submitted an edit that significantly modified this article, adding and removing a sizable amount of content and sources. Most of these edits were limited to expanding the page, but I also removed some sentences that I felt were inappropriate or out-of-place in the article. Among my more contentious changes, I shifted the figure in the infobox for the time Chawla spent in space from 31 days, 14 hours, and 54 minutes to one day in the past. While I was researching, I couldn't find too many sources that supported the previous figure besides the source it cited, which was an old, archived site hosted by NASA. I found more sources confirming my proposed figure, which is accompanied by a live site that's also hosted by NASA. Other than those major revisions, I added captions to the portrait in the infobox, copy edited the prose for grammar and clarity, and modified the wikitext for readability. You can see the rest of my changes by looking at the revision history. I've put this edit up for now, but if anyone objects to something I did, please let me know! Salmon of Knowledge (talk) 08:52, 11 July 2026 (UTC) Reply

Great work! I'd be happy to help you with the SFN citations if you'd like. I also wonder if it'd be worthwhile to try for a good article nomination again. I could go in as your co-nominator as one of the other major contributors to this article. Let me know what you think. Spookyaki (talk) 13:03, 11 July 2026 (UTC) Reply

Hi! Thanks for your reply. Yes, if you could help me with the {{sfn }} citations, I'd appreciate it deeply. About nominating it as a good article, if you think it meets the criteria, I'd absolutely be interested in doing so as a co-nominator with you. Should I add it to the GA nominations page? Salmon of Knowledge (talk) 19:43, 11 July 2026 (UTC) Reply

So sorry, am a little busy in real life, but am happy to work with you on a Good Article Nom. Looks like the SFN issues have been resolved. See the instructions here if you're interested. Spookyaki (talk) 23:39, 19 July 2026 (UTC) Reply

This review is transcluded from Talk:Kalpana Chawla/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: SalmonofKnowledge(talk · contribs) 19:49, 20 July 2026 (UTC) Reply

Reviewer: Simongraham(talk · contribs) 11:39, 30 July 2026 (UTC) Reply

This looks an interesting article and a cursory glance shows it is likely to be near to meeting the Good Article criteria. I will review this article as part of a Good Article review pledge. simongraham (talk) 11:39, 30 July 2026 (UTC) Reply