STS-107 Crew Interviews: Kalpana Chawla MS2

STS-107 Mission Specialist 2 Kalpana Chawla is seen during this preflight interview where she gives a quick overview of the mission before answering questions about her inspiration to become an astronaut and her career path. Chawla outlines her role in the mission in general, and specifically in conducting the on-board science experiments. She discusses the following experiments in detail: MEIDEX (Mediterranean Israel Dust Experiment), CM2 (Combustion Module 2), MIST (Water Mist Fire Suppression), SOFBALL (Structures of Flame Balls at Low Lewis-Number), LSP (Laminar Soot Processes), MGM (Mechanics of Granular Materials) and BDS (Biotechnology Demonstration System). She also discusses the potential benefits of space research, the dual-work shift of the mission and the rewards of international cooperation.