Kalpana Chawla was born on 17th March 1962. She was an Indian-born American astronaut and aerospace engineer. Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She flew on Space Shuttle Columbia for the first time in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.

The final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia was her second flight on STS-107 in 2003. Kalpana was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere on 1st February 2003. Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. She is a role model in India.

Palau issued a commemorative stamp on Kalpana Chawla. This multicolour stamp was issued on 25th December 2018. It portrays an image of Kalpana Chawla.

Face Value: 1 US dollar.

Printing: Offset Lithography.

Perforation: 14.

Image Courtesy: Colnect.com