Kalpana Chawla’s death, in an exploding fireball, is tinged with irony. One of the last experiments conducted by her during the 16-day science mission of space shuttle Columbia was to study the physics of fire. She worked in a specially made combustion chamber to study the impact of fire and how it can be suppressed in zero-gravity situations of space. According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the experiments conducted by her were to ‘‘provide new insights into combustion and fire suppression that cannot be gained on earth’’. As mission specialist aeronautical engineer, Chawla’s main job on board was to conduct scientific experiments on behalf of a large number of scientists who can never fly into outer space. In all, about 80 experiments were successfully conducted and Chawla was personally responsible for about a dozen. These included novel drug discovery type of experiments like growing protein crystals in zero gravity. Another on how granular structures compress together was designed to enhance the understanding of construction techniques to make building foundations stronger in areas prone to earthquakes, floods and landslides. Kalpana’s biggest responsibility was to carry out the Water Mist Fire Suppression Experiment (MIST) on behalf of the Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space in the Combustion Module Facility. The experiment was designed to investigate how water mist inhibits the spread of flames. And scientists hoped to apply what they learnt for designing improved lighter-weight fire suppression systems on earth as well as for space craft-based systems. Incidentally, this experiment ran into problems since a component on the facility initially malfunctioned but was fixed by Kalpana and she finally managed to carry out about 30 tests. Chawla was part of the Red team of the shuttle, which usually worked in the pre-dawn time and during the day, mostly in the uniquely made Spacehab Research Double module that was stowed in the cargo bay. Just a day before the accident, payload commander Michael Anderson told a traditional on-orbit crew news conference that ‘‘science-wise, this flight has been fantastic,’’ adding that ‘‘I think a lot of our experiments have exceeded our expectations by a hundred per cent.’’ Kalpana also carried out the ‘‘structure of flame balls experiment’’, which looked at ways of improving engine combustion efficiency using different fuels.
