IN PICS | Kalpana Chawla Birth Anniversary: Remembering The Ever-Inspiring Space Star

Kalpana Chawla Birth Anniversary: NASA Mission Control lost contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia during reentry on February 1, 2003 and later learned that the shuttle had broken up over Texas. All seven astronauts on board the shuttle were killed in the crash. Kalpana Chawla was one of the seven astronauts killed.

A file photo shows Kalpana Chawla, sitting center with long hair, next to her classmates at Tagore Baal Niketan School, in Karnal, 130 kilometers from New Delhi, India. Chawala was a former student of the school, which sponsors two girls to visit NASA each year. (Photo by Sondeep Shankar/Saab Press/Getty Images)

File Photo: Kennedy Space Center: Flight engineer Kalpana Chawla attends a press conference December 20, 2002 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Mission STS-107 is scheduled to launch January 16, 2003, and will be carrying an Israeli payload specialist. (Photo by Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)

File Photo: Kennedy Space Center - STS-107 Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla shown during the crew's Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test activities on Launch Pad 39A january 2003 (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)

File Photo: Johnson Space Center - (L-R) Astronauts Kalpana Chawla and Laurel B. Clark, both Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 mission specialists, photographed prior to a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) September 18, 2001 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

File Photo: Four astronauts from the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107; (clockwise from the bottom) Mission Specialist David M. Brown, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon pose for a photo in the SPACEHAB Research Module on January 27, 2003. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board investigators say that a culture of low funding, strict scheduling and an eroded safety program at NASA doomed the flight of the space shuttle. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

In Space - January 27: Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, STS-107 mission specialist, looks over a procedures checklist in the SPACEHAB Research Double Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia January 27, 2003 In Space. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

File Photo: The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia's mission STS-107 pose for the traditional crew portrait. Seated in front are astronauts Rick D. Husband (L), mission commander; Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist; and William C. McCool, pilot. Standing are (L to R) astronauts David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark, and Michael P. Anderson, all mission specialists; and Ilan Ramon, payload specialist representing the Israeli Space Agency. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

File Photo: NASA Mission Control lost contact with the Space Shuttle Columbia during reentry on February 1, 2003 and later learned that the shuttle had broken up over Texas. All seven astronauts onboard the shuttle were killed in the crash. Chawla was one of the seven astronauts killed. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)

Children pay their respects by sprinkling flower petals over a portrait of astronaut Kalpana Chawla outside local government offices 02 February 2003 in the town of Karnal, some 125 Kms north of Delhi, where Chawla was born. (AFP Photo/Tekee TANWAR)

From left: students Sanpreet Kaur, Neha Sharma and Gaurav Goyal pay their respects infront of a portrait of astronaut Kalpana Chawla outside local government offices 02 February 2003 in Chawla's hometown of Karnal, some 125 Kms north of Delhi. The three students had visited NASA headquarters on annual field trips arranged by Chawla. AFP Photo/Tekee TANWAR