Kalpana Chawla (in the middle) was the first Indian woman to go to space. She got a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder Her second trip to space was a tragedy when the Columbia rocket disintegrated when reentering the earth’s atmosphere, killing her and her 6 other crewmates almost 20 years ago. Let us have a moment of silence to remember and appreciate her, her other crewmates, and all the other astronauts whose lives were taken to continue the exploration of space.