After her first space odyssey Kalpana had one complaint: she could not go to space stations.
And the reason for that was simple: since she was tiny -- around 5 feet and 90 pounds -- NASA did not have a space suit that fit her. "NASA only has large and medium sizes. Both were too big for her," recounted Dr Robert Culp, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and her mentor for four years during her doctorate.
He further said, "But at our last lunch together, she told me that she had succeeded in convincing NASA to make small EVA [extra vehicular activity] suits. Even though that would take a couple of years (and millions to NASA), she was very excited that she would finally be able to go to space stations."
Photograph: JSC/NASA
Remembering Kalpana