CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 – 1 February 2003) was an Indian-born American astronaut and aerospace engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.

Detailed explanation-2: -Rakesh Sharma, (born Jan. 13, 1949, Patiala, Punjab state, India), Indian military pilot and cosmonaut, the first Indian citizen in space. In 1970 Sharma joined the Indian Air Force as a pilot. He flew 21 combat missions in a MiG-21 in the Bangladesh war of 1971.

Detailed explanation-3: -The 1st Indian women astronaut Kalpana Chawla was the first India-born women astronaut.

Detailed explanation-4: -Thus, Sirisha Bandla is the second Indian born American woman astronaut to fly to space. Sirisha Bandla was the second Indian born of American origin to go to space, the first being Sunita Williams. Kalpana Chawla was born in India and was not an American by birth.

Detailed explanation-5: -Her first space mission began on November 19, 1997 as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984 in a spacecraft.