Very Short Questions
Question 1 : Why was against Kalpana Chawla’s wish to study in United States?
Answer : Kalpana Chawla’s father was against her wish to study in the United States of America. But she went to the United States for a masters degree.
Question 2 : What do you mean by the Columbia?
Answer : The Columbia was a space shuttle which broke apart in flames while returning to the Earth.
Question 3 : Who was Jean-Pierre Harrison?
Answer : Jean-Pierre Harrison was an American flight instructor and was married to Indian born astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
Question 4 : Who was Kalpana Chawla?
Answer : Kalpana Chawla was Indian born American astronaut. She died in an unprecedented space tragedy.
Question 5 : When did NASA select Kalpana Chawla?
Answer : NASA selected Kalpana Chawla for training as an astronaut in 1994.
Question 6 : Write the name of the space centre from where the Columbia was lifted off.
Answer : The name of the space centre was Kennedy Space Centre in Florida from where her space shuttle blasted off.
Question 7 : How many people were there on the space shuttle?
Answer : There were seven people in the space shuttle Columbia.
Short Questions
Question 1 : Who all cheered Kalpana Chawla when the Columbia lifted off?
Answer : The Columbia lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Kalpana Chawla’s family from India cheered alongwith staff at the Kennedy Space Centre.
Question 2 : Why lifting off Columbia a proud moment for India?
Answer : The lifting off Columbia was a proud moment because Kalpana Chawla was born in India. Her achievements were unbelievable as an astronaut. She was a small town girl and achieved a lot.
Question 3 : What kinds of experiments were performed by the crew in space?
Answer : The crew performed experiments such as pollinating plants to observe growth in space and tests for making strong metals and faster computer chips.
Question 4 : What was the atmosphere in Karnal when people heard about the Columbia disaster?
Answer : People in Karnal town were shocked to hear about the Columbia disaster. Nobody could sleep that night and remained glued to their television sets in hope that Kalpana Chawla and the crew may survive.
Question 5 : What was the moment of joy for all Indians. How did it change into grief?
Answer : The moment of joy for all Indians was when astronaut Kalpana Chawla was about to reach the Earth after her space mission.
But it changed into shock and disbelief when people were to know about the Columbia disaster.
Question 6 : What happened to Columbia’s 28th space flight?
Answer : The Columbia’s 28th space flight was lifted off on 16th January, 2003 from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. It stayed in orbit for 16 days before it began its downward journey which resulted in a tragedy.
Long Questions
Question 1 : What do you know about Kalpana Chawla’s achievement?
Answer : Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-American woman astronaut to participate in a successful mission in space. She had a bachelor degree in aeronautical engineering from a college in Chandigarh and went to the United States of America to get a master’s degree and later had PhD degree.
She had a license to fly single and multi-engine land airplanes, single-engine seaplanes and gliders. She was also a certified flight instructor. She was hired as a research scientist at NASA. She was later selected by NASA for training as an astronaut.
Question 2 : What kind of person Kalpana Chawla was?
Or, Write the character sketch of Kalpana Chawla.
Answer : Kalpana Chawla was a courageous person. It was not easy for a lady born in Karnal to study abroad and become an astronaut. She struggled a lot to be successful in life.
She always thought she could achieve what she wants to and being a woman or a person from a small town or a different country could not affect her dreams.
She was encouraged by people around her. She also motivated students to follow their dreams and make their own path.
Question 3 : For Kalpana being a woman never came in way of realising her dreams why?
Answer : According to Kalpana Chawla she never thought. To being a woman was a hindrance in (furnishing) her studies or doing anything from a small town will have anyone effect on her career.
She know how to fulfil her dreams. People around her encouraged her every time. They motivated her to follow her dreams and that make her successful.
Value Based Questions
Question 1 : What do we learn from Kalpana Chawla’s life?
Answer : We learn from Kalpana Chawla’s life that we should follow our dreams and aspirations. If we are focused towards achieving our goal nothing could stop us. One should be brave enough to overcome all the problems.
She sent a message to all the students of her college to motivate them. She said that there is no hindrance between success and dreams and one has to develop it.
There is no shortcut in life and one has to make their own way to fulfil their dreams.