Sometime after her demise, Kalpana Chawla’s family wrote to the chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata. This was a unique letter because it contained some special memorabilia. There was a crew-autographed group picture of the Space Shuttle Mission STS-87 (her first Space Shuttle Mission), a pair of medallions commemorating her two space journeys, and an old black-and-white photograph. This was the photograph of J.R.D. Tata’s inaugural mail flight, which Kalpana Chawla had carried along with her on her first mission into space. Here was a heartfelt tribute from a young girl to her hero. To a
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