Kalpana Chawla said that she never dreamed, as a dreamed, as a child in Karnal, that she would cross the frontiers of space. It was enough that her parents allowed her to attend engineering college after she graduated from Tagore School. After a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, against great opposition from her father, she went for a master's degree to the United States of America. She later earned her P.H.D. in aerospace engineering. Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-American woman astronaut to blast off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and participate in a successful mission in space. Her family from India cheered along with staff at the Kennedy Space Center as they watched the Columbia lift off. Kalpana was born in Karnal, Haryana, but was a naturalised U.S. citizen, married to flight instructor Jean-Pierre she was licensed to fly single and multi-engine land airplanes single-engine seaplanes and gliders. She was also a certified flight instructor. After qualifying as a pilot, Kalpana began to consider another challenge: applying to NASA's space shuttle program. She was first hired as a research scientist at NASA. in 1994 she was selected by NASA for training as an astronaut. When asked what it was like being a woman in her field she replied, "I really never, ever thought, while pursuing my studies or doing anything else, that I was a woman , or a person from a small city, or a different country. I pretty much had my dreams like anyone else and I followed me, and people who were around me, fortunately, always encouraged me and said, 'If that's what you want to do, carry on'.