Indian-born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla
Credit: NASA

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-born American astronaut. In 1997, she became the first Indian-born woman to travel in space. Chawla served on two missions aboard the United States space shuttle Columbia as a mission specialist and robotic arm operator.

Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, northern India. Karnal was part of the state of Punjab at that time. Today, it is part of the state of Haryana. She graduated from the Punjab Engineering College in 1982. That same year, she immigrated to the United States. In 1984, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas in Austin. She married Jean-Pierre Harrison, an aviation teacher and author, in 1983. She received her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988. She then went to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1994, she was selected for training as an astronaut candidate.

In 1997, Chawla flew her first mission on the shuttle Columbia. She was the second person of Indian descent to travel in space, following Indian-born cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who traveled on a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1984. Chawla’s duties involved conducting experiments in microgravity, sometimes called zero gravity or weightlessness, and launching a satellite using the shuttle’s robotic arm. Her second mission was on the same shuttle in 2003. However, on Feb. 1, 2003, as the Columbia was returning to Earth after the 16-day mission, the spacecraft broke apart high over Texas. Chawla and six other crew members were killed.

Chawla received many honors for her work in space. They included the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, an asteroid that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter is named the 51826 Kalpanachawla in her honor.

John McFall, from the United Kingdom, is a member of the ESA Astronaut Class of 2022. John McFall is one of the more than 22 500 candidates who submitted a valid application in 2021 in response to ESA’s call for new astronauts for missions to the International Space Station and beyond. ESA’s new class of astronauts includes career astronauts, members for the astronaut reserve and astronauts with a physical disability for a feasibility project. They will start a 12-month basic training at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in spring 2023.
Credit: P. Sebirot/ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA), a cooperative space program among the nations of Europe, made history in November 2022, naming the world’s first physically disabled astronaut. Paralympian and orthopedic surgeon John McFall joined 15 others out of 22,500 applicants in the journey to space. McFall had his right leg amputated after a motorcycle accident when he was 19 years old. Before his accident, he was a runner. McFall persevered through recovery and made it to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. He secured the bronze medal in the 100-meter race.

McFall was born on April 25, 1981, in Frimley, England. He was a runner before his accident in 2000. Determined to reach his goals despite his new existence as an amputee, McFall worked through recovery all the way to the Paralympics. He became a professional runner in 2005, only five years after his accident. After his success as a Paralympian, McFall trained as an orthopedic surgeon.

He studied at Swansea University in Wales 2004. He continued his education to earn his master’s degree at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff in 2005. Not one to shy away from challenges and education, McFall graduated from Cardiff University School of Medicine in 2014. He joined the Royal College of Surgeons in 2016 and works as a trauma and orthopedic specialist in the south of England.

McFall heard that the ESA was looking to hire a Paralympian as an astronaut in February 2021 as he worked in the intensive therapy unit helping patients recover from COVID-19. He started filling out an application and soon was undergoing memory and physical tests and answering difficult questions in interviews.

The ESA named McFall and 15 others as official recruits in November 2022. The group will undergo more testing to ensure their ability to fulfill the role. McFall will take part in the Parastronaut Feasibility Project which will help the ESA understand how space flight works for astronauts with physical disabilities.

Nicole Aunapu Mann became the first Indigenous American woman in space in October 2022 aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA

Nicole Aunapu Mann is an American astronaut and Marine Corps test pilot. Today, October 5, 2022, Mann became the first Indigenous (native) American woman in space. Mann and three other astronauts launched on National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). While aboard the ISS, Mann will serve as a flight engineer. Mann is a member of the Wailacki people of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. The Round Valley Indian Tribes is a confederation of tribes designated to the Round Valley Indian Reservation in Mendocino County, California.

In 2013, the NASA chose Mann to be an astronaut. Mann completed astronaut training in July 2015. She led the development of the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) launch facility, the Orion crewed spacecraft, and Space Launch System (SLS), built to carry the Orion craft into space. NASA selected Mann to serve as mission commander on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission on the Crew Dragon capsule en route to the International Space Station. SpaceX is a private company that owns and operates the rocket and spacecraft used in the mission. A Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch the mission’s Crew Dragon capsule.

Mann joined the United States Marine Corps in 1999 as a second lieutenant. She reported to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, for flight training in 2001. Mann became a Navy pilot in 2003 and began her operational flying career in 2004.  Mann deployed twice to Afghanistan and Iraq, completing 47 combat missions. After her deployments, she completed Navy Test Pilot School and served as a test pilot for many types of naval aircraft.

Nicole Victoria Aunapu was born in Petaluma, California, on June 27, 1977. She enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1995. Mann earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1999. She completed a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from California’s Stanford University in 2001. In 2009, she married Navy pilot Travis Mann.

Jessica Watkins
Credit: NASA

American astronaut and geologist Jessica Watkins is making history this month. She is the first Black woman selected for an extended mission in space. Watkins and three other astronauts launched aboard a new SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft named Freedom atop a Falcon 9 rocket on April 27, 2022. Once the crew arrives, they will work and live aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is a large, inhabited Earth satellite that more than 15 nations are operating in space. Watkins is set to work aboard the station for six months. On the ISS, she will work at the microgravity laboratory and serve as the team’s mission specialist.

Jessica Andrea Watkins was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on May 14, 1988. Her family later moved to Lafayette, Colorado. She enrolled at Stanford University in California, in 2006.  Watkins led Stanford’s rugby team to win the 2008 national championship. Watkins was a member of the United States Women’s Eagles Sevens Rugby team, competing in the 2009 Women’s Sevens Rugby World Cup in Dubai. Watkins earned her bachelor’s degree in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University in 2010.

Watkins studied and worked extremely hard to reach her new career in space. Watkins earned a doctorate degree in geology at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2015. Watkins conducted post-doctoral research at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). At UCLA, she studied landslides on Mars. At Caltech, she helped plan missions for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Curiosity rover.

As an undergraduate, Watkins participated in an internship for NASA at the Ames Research Center outside of San Jose, California. She compared simulated Martian soils with data gathered by the Phoenix Mars Lander.  In 2009, Watkins served as the chief geologist for a simulated mission at the Mars Desert Research Station outside of Hanksville, Utah. As a graduate student, she interned for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In 2017, Watkins was selected for astronaut training. In 2019, Watkins participated as an aquanaut in a simulated space mission at the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) Aquarius habitat, on the ocean floor off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. NASA has also selected Watkins as a crew member for the Artemis mission to the moon’s surface.

Indian-born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla
Credit: NASA

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature AAPI pioneers in a variety of areas.

In 1997, the American astronaut Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003) became the first Indian-born woman to travel into space. Chawla served on two missions aboard the United States space shuttle Columbia as a mission specialist and robotic arm operator.

Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, northern India. Karnal was part of the state of Punjab at that time. Today, it is part of the state of Haryana. She graduated from the Punjab Engineering College in 1982. That same year, she immigrated to the United States. In 1984, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas in Austin. She married Jean-Pierre Harrison, an aviation teacher and author, in 1983. She received her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1988. She then went to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1994, she was selected for training as an astronaut candidate.

In 1997, Chawla flew her first mission on the shuttle Columbia. She was the second person of Indian descent to travel in space, following the Indian-born cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who traveled on a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1984. Chawla’s duties involved conducting experiments in microgravity, sometimes called zero gravity or weightlessness, and launching a satellite using the shuttle’s robotic arm. Her second mission was on the same shuttle in 2003. However, on Feb. 1, 2003, as the Columbia was returning to Earth after the 16-day mission, the spacecraft broke apart high over Texas. Chawla and six other crew members were killed.

Chawla received many honors for her work in space. They include the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, an asteroid that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter is named the 51826 Kalpanachawla in her honor.

July 19, 2019

On July 20, 1969, 50 years ago tomorrow, the United States astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did what had seemed impossible not that long before: they landed on the moon. Watched by millions of people over a live television broadcast worldwide, Armstrong and Aldrin’s lunar first was the crowning moment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo space program.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin took this photo of Neil Armstrong working on a storage assembly on the lunar module, Eagle, on the surface of the moon in July 1969. Credit: NASA

In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed landing astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade. This goal seemed out of the realm of possibility at the time. The United States was trailing the Soviet Union in the space race, a period of intense competition between the two countries to achieve supremacy in space exploration. The Soviet Union had already launched the first satellite (Sputnik in October 1957) and the first person (cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in April 1961) into orbit around Earth. American efforts had been riddled with launch failures, and the greatest success at that time had been a brief suborbital flight (astronaut Alan Shepard spent a few minutes in space) shortly before Kennedy’s announcement. From the looks of things in 1961, if anyone was going to land on the moon before 1970, it would be a cosmonaut.

A NASA Saturn 5 rocket launches from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969, carrying the Apollo 11 astronauts who would land on the moon days later. Credit: NASA

NASA, however, accepted the challenge with intensity and enthusiasm. It wound down the initial Mercury space project and began the Gemini program. Gemini helped develop the technology and skills to travel to the moon. Astronauts were launched in pairs, and they practiced docking with other spacecraft—an important part of Apollo’s novel mission design. The astronauts also practiced more precise ocean landings, to gain skill for lunar touchdowns. Gemini ended in 1966 and was succeeded by Apollo.

The Apollo program started with disaster. In January 1967, a fire during a pre-launch test took the lives of astronauts Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, and Edward H. White II. After the accident, NASA engineers redoubled their focus on crew safety.

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the surface of the moon in July 1969. Credit: NASA

After several crewed and uncrewed Apollo test flights, NASA was ready to land the first people on the moon. On July 16, 1969, a Saturn 5 rocket, the most powerful rocket ever built, launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying the three astronauts of Apollo 11. After three days in transit, the mission entered into orbit around the moon. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the surface in the lunar lander module, named Eagle. Fellow astronaut Michael Collins stayed aboard a command module orbiting the moon.

This photo taken during the Apollo 11 mission shows Earth rising above the surface of the moon. Credit: NASA

As the mission commander, Armstrong was the first person to leave the lunar module and set foot on the surface. Upon taking his first step onto the moon, he famously said: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” (The word “a” was lost in radio transmission.) Aldrin joined him on the surface about 20 minutes later. They explored the lunar surface for more than two hours, performing experiments, setting up scientific equipment, and collecting samples of the lunar surface. Then, they blasted off in the lunar module, reunited with Collins in orbit around the moon, and safely returned to Earth.

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were greeted with honors and awards upon returning home, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the two highest civilian honors awarded by the U.S. government. (They were awarded the second highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, in 2011.) The lunar astronauts received huge parades in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. They were celebrated in their home towns as well as at state dinners around the world.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands next to a seismograph on the lunar surface in July 1969. The lunar module, Eagle, stands in the background. Credit: NASA

Armstrong never became fully comfortable with the fame associated with being the first person to walk on the moon, refusing most interview requests until his death in 2012. Aldrin, however, enjoyed the spotlight and continues to be a prominent spokesperson for the advancement of human space exploration. Collins would have likely been selected to finally walk on the moon as the commander of Apollo 17—the last moon mission. But he retired from NASA after Apollo 11, happy to have been a vital—albeit relatively invisible—part of the first moon mission.

After six successful moon landings, Apollo was cancelled and NASA turned its attention to the development of the space shuttle. Humans have not left Earth’s orbit since since Apollo 17 in December 1972. That could change soon, however, as the United States and many countries and private companies are seeking to return to the moon in the near future. The American spacecraft company SpaceX is developing a rocket and lander intended to orbit and land on the moon. Another company, Blue Origin, is also developing rockets and landers with the ultimate goal of building a permanent settlement on the moon.

December 26, 2018

On Dec. 26, 1968, 50 years ago today, United States astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission prepared to reenter Earth’s atmosphere after becoming the first humans to orbit the moon. Apollo 8 was part of the Apollo space program that eventually landed people on the moon. The program lasted from 1961 to 1975. It was conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Live telecasts by the Apollo 8 astronauts were shown around the world, including a famous Christmas Eve broadcast that, at that time, was the most watched television program in history.

The Apollo 8 crew–astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell Jr., and William A. Anders–prepare to board a van which will transfer them to the launch pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 21, 1968. The crew orbited the moon and returned safely to Earth on December 27. Credit: JSC/NASA

Apollo 8 launched on Dec. 21, 1968, with astronauts William Anders, Frank Borman, and James Lovell, Jr. It was the second piloted Apollo mission, following Apollo 7 that had tested equipment in low orbit two months earlier. After separating from the carrying Saturn V rocket, the Apollo 8 astronauts guided the command and service module, or CSM, through trans-lunar injection, a maneuver sending the spacecraft toward the moon. The CSM entered lunar orbit and then passed to the dark side of the moon. People on Earth held their breath as communications were lost—as expected—for several minutes. Contact then resumed and was lost and resumed again as the CSM orbited the moon 10 times over 20 hours.

Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders took this famous photograph–known as Earthrise–on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968. The lunar surface can be seen in the foreground. Credit: NASA

The NASA telecasts took place just before, during, and after these orbits, and the astronauts took a series of remarkable photographs—including the famous “Earthrise” and other photos that showed humans what our planet looks like from space. On December 27, Apollo 8 returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near the recovery ship Yorktown, 147 hours after launch and precisely on time.

This official emblem of the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission featured the names of the crew: Frank Borman, commander; James A. Lovell, Jr., command module pilot; and William A. Anders, lunar module pilot. Credit: NASA

Apollo 9 and 10 carried out further tests before Apollo 11 landed humans on the moon for the first time in July 1969. Five more Apollo missions landed astronauts safely on the moon through December 1972.

March 28, 2018

When astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth from a year-long mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on March 1, 2016, he was a changed man. Literally. Compared to his identical twin brother, fellow astronaut Mark Kelly, there were several noticeable differences. Scott Kelly had grown about 2 inches (5 centimeters) taller in space, and his overall body mass had decreased a bit. However, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists were most interested in the changes that could not be seen, changes in Kelly’s genetic makeup. And unlike his physical metamorphosis (his body soon resumed its Earthbound proportions), some changes in Kelly’s DNA seem to be permanent.

U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly poses inside the International Space Station in 2015. Kelly’s body and genetic makeup changed during his weightless year in space.

In 2015, Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko began a unique experiment to learn about the effects of long-term space travel on the human body. The pair spent 340 consecutive days on the ISS as part of a study that will help NASA scientists understand the challenges they must conquer if humans are ever to journey to Mars and beyond. Kelly and Kornienko orbited Earth more than 10,000 times speeding at 17,500 miles per hour (28,165 kilometers per hour) while floating in the weightlessness of microgravity (a condition of very low gravity). During this time, they experienced the stresses and solitude of long-term space flight and were exposed to cosmic radiation above the protective filter of Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (left) and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko pose during training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center prior to their year in space. Credit: Bill Stafford, NASA

For experimental control, Scott’s brother Mark remained on Earth. As Scott’s identical twin brother, Mark’s genetic makeup is exactly the same as Scott’s. After Scott returned, NASA scientists studied the twin brothers. Any differences between Scott and Mark could be seen as the effects of the long-term space travel.

The growth spurt that Scott Kelly experienced in orbit turned out to be short-lived and he soon shrank back to his normal height as he returned to Earth’s gravity. But NASA scientists were surprised to find that Scott’s DNA, the genetic material that makes up his genes, was now significantly different from his twin. They found that about 7 percent of Scott’s genes, including those involved in bone formation, DNA repair, oxygen use, the immune system, and eyesight, had altered function when compared to Mark’s genes. Many of these genetic changes appear to be permanent.

NASA scientists think that Scott’s long-term mission in space altered his DNA through processes called epigenetics. Scientists have long known that environmental factors can alter how genes are expressed (how they function) in organisms through epigenetic processes. These processes are not mutations, nor are they physical changes in the DNA. Rather, the processes change how a particular gene functions. Various factors may switch a particular gene on or off or otherwise change how it is expressed. Such environmental factors include nutrition, exposure to certain chemicals, and stress. Scott and Mark remain genetically identical twins, but some of Scott’s genes are now expressed differently compared to Mark’s because of his time in space.

May 10, 2017

Last month, on April 24, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Peggy Whitson set a new record for cumulative time in space by an American astronaut as she began her 535^th day beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Currently on board the International Space Station (ISS), Whitson surpassed the previous record of 534 total space days set by astronaut Jeffrey Williams in 2016.

In April 2017, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson set an American record with her 535th day in space. Credit: NASA

An astronaut is a person who pilots a spacecraft or works in space, particularly in the space program of the United States. In Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union, such men and women are called cosmonauts. Astronauts and cosmonauts operate spacecraft and space stations, launch and recapture artificial satellites, and conduct scientific experiments.

Peggy Whitson began her career at NASA in 1989, and she was selected to be an astronaut in 1996. In 2002, she spent six months aboard the ISS, performing several spacewalks to help assemble the station. During this time, NASA appointed her as the station’s science officer. She was the first person to serve in this position. In 2007, she embarked on another six-month mission to the ISS. Whitson served as the station’s first female commander, overseeing its further expansion. She began another tour at the station in November 2016, again serving as commander.

In addition to her new time-in-space record, Whitson has spent more than 53 hours on spacewalks outside the ISS. Whitson celebrated her 57^th birthday on board the ISS in February 2017, making her the oldest American woman to spend time in space. By the time she returns to Earth in September, she will have logged 666 days in orbit over the course of three missions. The world record for the number of days in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who logged 879 days in orbit over several missions.

Among other duties on her current mission, Whitson is helping NASA identify some of the health problems that astronauts develop during extended stays in conditions of apparent weightlessness called microgravity. Such information will be useful in preparing for lengthy missions to Mars or for life at an extraterrestrial base.

December 9, 2016

One of the heroes of the early Space Age is gone. United States astronaut and Senator John Glenn died yesterday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 95. He was the first American to orbit Earth, on Feb. 20, 1962.

Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. in his Mercury spacesuit, February 1962.
Credit: NASA

John Herschel Glenn, Jr., was born on July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio. He grew up in New Concord, Ohio. He became a pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in both World War II (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953). After the wars, he served as a test pilot for new supersonic aircraft, which travel faster than the speed of sound. In 1959, he was chosen to be one of the first seven National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts. Being the oldest of the group, he actively lobbied to be the first American sent into space, but the honor instead went to Alan Shepard.

At the start of the 1960’s, it was clear that the United States was losing the space race. The space race was a period of intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union (a powerful state made up of what is now Russia and several other surrounding countries) to achieve supremacy in space exploration. The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, several months before the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human space traveler by orbiting Earth in his spaceship Vostok (later called Vostok 1). Two U.S. flights followed that year, but neither Alan Shepard nor the next American astronaut, Virgil (Gus) Grissom, orbited Earth. The flights were short, lasting only about 15 minutes.

Glenn orbited Earth three times during his historic flight. He was probably the first human being to “fly” a spacecraft manually for any length of time. During the flight, the autopilot malfunctioned, causing the spacecraft to tilt to the right. Glenn held the spacecraft in its proper position for the rest of the flight using the vehicle’s manual controls.

Glenn’s flight brought confidence back to the U.S. space program and made him a national hero. Spurred on by its own success and the continued advances of the Soviet Union, NASA surged ahead in the space race, putting U.S. astronauts on the moon less than 10 years after Glenn’s orbital flight. Glenn’s fame likely cost him his career as an astronaut, however. He was eager to fly in more missions, but U.S. President John F. Kennedy deemed his value as a national hero too great to risk another dangerous spaceflight. Frustrated, Glenn resigned from NASA in 1964.

After he left NASA, Glenn decided to go into politics. He won election to the Senate from Ohio in 1974. In the Senate, Glenn worked to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and was a supporter of providing federal aid to industries suffering from financial problems, such as the steel and automobile industries. Glenn campaigned for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out early in the race. He continued to serve as a senator until 1998.

Glenn’s wish to return to space was finally granted in 1998, when he traveled aboard the space shuttle Discovery. During the flight, he took part in experiments dealing with physical problems experienced by astronauts in space and elderly people on Earth. Glenn was 77 years old at the time of the mission, making him the oldest person ever to take part in space travel.

As a fighter pilot in two wars, an astronaut in two missions 36 years apart, and a senator for 24 years, Glenn leaves behind a towering legacy of service to his country matched by few people in U.S. history. His humility and patriotism impressed everyone he met. Glenn was an American hero, the likes of which may never be seen again.

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• Space exploration (1998)