kalpana was born in Karnal. Haryana but was a naturalized U.S. citizen , married to flight instructor Jean - pierre Harrison. Besides being an astronaut, she was licensed to fly single and multi-engine land airplanes, single- ginger seaplanes and gliders .she was also a certified flight instructor . after qualifying as a pilot, Kalpana began to consider another challenge: applying to NASA's space shuttle program. she was first hired as a research scientist at NASA. In 1994 she was selected by NASA for training as an astronaut.when asked what it was like being a woman in her field she replied. "I really never ever through, while pursuing my studies or doing anything else that I was a woman or a person from a small city ,or a different country.I pretty much had my dreams like anyone else and I followed them . And people who were around me. fortunately, always encouraged me and said,"if that what you want to do,carry on." Kalpana's first space missions in the space shuttle. Columbia, was 15 days,16hour and 34 minutes long . During this time she went around the earth 252 time s, travelling. 10.45. millions kilometres! The crew included a Japanese and a Ukrainian astronaut.