Kalpana Chawla died when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated ... Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin to travel to space, and she spent a total of 30 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes ...

Chawla’s journey began in 1997, becoming the first Indian-born woman in space, and later serving on STS-107 in 2003, dedicated to microgravity experiments aboard Columbia. The STS-107 mission ...

The deceased were identified as Dr Vijaypal, medical superintendent at Kalpana Chawla Government Medical ... Two doctors including a medical superintendent died, while three others were injured ...