Kalpana Chawla`s maiden space mission happened in November 19, 1997, when she was called to be a part of the six-astronaut crew that manoeuvred Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. With this, Kalpana became the first Indian female astronaut to fly into outer space. She was assigned several duties to perform, which Kalpana performed like an experienced professional.

The astronauts aboard the shuttle are often divided into two teams. One team is mostly for manoeuvring in space and maintenance of the shuttle and the other for conducting experiments and keeping a watch over them. For Kalpana`s maiden space mission aboard STS Mission-87, the Mission Commander was Kevin R. Kregel, Pilot Steven Lindsey, Mission Specialists Winston Seott, Takao Doi and Kalpana Chawla and a Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk. It was an international crew: Kregel, Lindsey and Scott were Americans, Doi was Japanese, Kadenyuk, a Ukrainian, and Kalpana an India-born American. Kalpana was the second Indian (the first Indian being Rakesh Sharma, who flew in 1984 in a Soviet spacecraft) - and the first Indian woman - to go into space.

While various kinds of space mission activities are in progress, astronauts also get the opportunity to talk with their families, important visitors or participate in `Press Conferences` with the media through video-teleconferences, send e-mails, sometimes discuss experiments and problems with the concerned scientists or school students on earth. In other words, the Orbiter (a detached satellite with thrusters jets, that orbits round the earth) functions like any other laboratory on the surface of the earth. The working day, often of sixteen hours, is filled with activities and then crew members sleep for eight hours in the crew cabin below the cockpit.

It was about seven hours after the launch on November 19, 1997, that Columbia crossed over the Indian subcontinent. A path-breaking step was taken by Kalpana Chawla towards completing her maiden space mission. The reason for this delay was the inclination of the orbit of the shuttle - approximately 29 degrees - to the equator of the earth. On every orbit around the earth, only a narrow strip of land below can be clearly seen from the shuttle. With considerable joy and thrill, Kalpana pointed out her hometown Karnal (city-town in Haryana) to her fellow-astronauts. Throughout the flight she took breathtaking photographs of the earth for studies later. In fact, the earth was her special concern and she always looked at it with love and affection from her window before she went to sleep every `day`.

Kalpana Chawla`s sensitive description of the earth from her Columbia maiden space mission uttered during in-flight rendezvous has today become immortal. On one occasion, she remarked, `This planet below you is our campsite, and you know of no other campground.` On December 3, 1998, she had a telephonic conversation with the then Prime Minister of India, I K Gujral, who congratulated her on the pioneering space feat and strengthening US-India relations. The then US President Bill Clinton also had a video-conference with all the astronauts. `Your smiles made my day,` he said from Camp David, `and look forward to seeing you back here on earth`.

During Kalpana Chawla`s maiden space mission aboard STS Mission-87, she and other astronauts conducted science experiments in the Glove Boxes to lessen the effect of zero gravity and vacuum conditions of space on various phenomena not yet properly understood on earth. It is possible to create a near vacuum on earth, but its gravity cannot be switched off. Experiments have therefore to be performed in space to ascertain the effect of zero gravity on various phenomena. For instance, Kalpana conducted experiments on how stronger alloys could be made by studying the way to meta mix, how better silicon chips could be made by observing that silica material solidifies, how better engines could be designed for aeronautical and industrial purposes by understanding what makes flames stable and emit less pollutants.

The Ukraininan astronaut Kadenyuk monitored the behaviour of a colony of ants and the growth of plants of soyabean and mustard from seeds under space conditions. The project on ant behaviour was with some Ukrainian and American school students. So occasionally, he talked with concerned teachers and students. Meanwhile, Steven Lindsay monitored the ozone layer, the atmospheric layer which prevents harmful radiations of the sun from reaching the earth. To sum up, Kalpana`s maiden space mission along with her smart crew representing different countries was fulfilling in every way.

Other astronauts left the shuttle on several occasions, took space walks and conducted tests on equipment. The equipment included a six-metre long manually operated crane and a radio-controlled, free flying video camera, the size of a beach ball. They are likely to be used during the construction of the International Space Station, called `Freedom`. Throughout the space flight, Kalpana also monitored all computer software that controlled the functioning of the shuttle.

One of Kalpana Chawla`s primary tasks was to operate the sixteen-metre long robotic arm of the Payload Bay to pick up the satellite Spartan from its hold in the bay and release it into space. This satellite was supposed to study the stream of electrically charged particles coming from the sun, called, `solar wind` and the crown-like outermost atmosphere the `corona` of the sun. It so happened that when Kalpana was to begin her special task in her maiden space mission, she had released the satellite into space using the robotic arm. However, the satellite slipped and spun in such a manner that it could not be re-oriented for the study of the sun.

After consultation with the Mission Control, the shuttle was manoeuvred some days later for a rendezvous with the satellite. Commander Kevin Kregel, Winston Scott and Takao Doi were then sent out into space to manually capture the expensive satellite hovering nearby, latch it into the hold of the Payload Bay and bring it back to earth. Later, ground investigations revealed that the Spartan could not be released correctly by Kalpana not because she had mishandled it, but due to an inbuilt fault in its working mechanism. The NASA authorities subsequently declared that there was no negligence on her part and declared her to be a `terrific astronaut`. The very fact they went on to select her for a second space mission later showed their confidence in her abilities.

Earlier, during her first space flight Kalpana had the presence of mind to take forty photographs of the external tank within two and a half minutes during take off, when all astronauts were mentally and physically disoriented. The photos showed for the first time how fuel vents from the tank during those final minutes of the shuttle`s climb into space. On December 5, 1997, the shuttle was guided to return to earth. Floating like a glider, it entered the terrestrial atmosphere and landed on the runaway of the Kennedy Space Center. All the families of the astronauts, including Kalpana`s, were eagerly waiting to meet them at the Center. And, they all said a prayer of thanks when the shuttle made a safe touchdown. Thus was ended a magnificent saga of Kalpana Chawla and her maiden space mission, coming face to face once more with gravity.

After quarantine procedures, when astronauts are thoroughly checked for any harmful alien microbe on or in their bodies, they familiarise themselves with the gravity of the earth, take rest and sleep. Then they are allowed to meet their relatives. It was a moment of great pride for the entire Chawla family as Kalpana became the first Indian woman to go into space. She stayed in space for approximately 376 hours and 34 minutes, orbited the earth 252 times and covered a distance of 14.3 million kilometres - much more than what Sally Ride, the first American woman astronaut, did during her maiden space flight. It was an extraordinary achievement for a girl from Karnal and all of India rejoiced at her triumph.