Kalpana Chawla, born in northern India, achieved notoriety by becoming both the first Indian-American astronaut and first Indian woman in space. Her connections to Texas include a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and extensive time in the Houston area at the Johnson Space Center, where she trained for STS-87 (November-December 1997) and STS-107 (January-February 2003).

Unfortunately, Chawla passed away tragically along with six other crew members when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentry into the earth's atmosphere. In the decade since her death, she has received numerous posthumous honors and recognitions. Noted children's author Ai-Ling Louie's latest title continues this theme of commemoration while chronicling her life and hoping to inspire future Asian Americans to reach for their dreams. 

Louie will read passages from her book, answer questions about her research and teach children about Kalpana Chawla's interesting life.