Chawla served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in November and December 1997. You see the continents go by, the thunderstorms shimmering in the clouds, the city lights at night.
Earth is very beautiful.
I wish everyone could see it. Months of rigorous training followed, then she began the anxious wait for her turn on the launchpad. Then you wait for the magic day when they call and say you are assigned to a flight. Chawla's flight, the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 mission, was the eighth shuttle mission flown in 1997 and the 88th since the program began in 1981. But one trip into space is never enough.