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On Feb. 1, 2003, CU astronaut Kalpana Chawla (MAeroEngr’86; PhD’88; HonDocSci’03) [middle left] and six other astronauts died when their Columbia space shuttle broke apart on re-entry to Earth. The shuttle crew had spent 16 days in space conducting 80 research experiments. Chawla had worked for NASA as a researcher since 1988, logging just over 30.5 days in space. She was posthumously awarded the 2004 Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Twenty years later, Chawla’s legacy remains strong at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ. In 2004, the ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ Alumni Association renamed its recent graduate award the Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Graduate Award in her honor. Since then 27 accomplished graduates have received the award.