Kalpana Chawla’s first mission in the space shuttle, Columbia, was 15 days, 16hours and 34 minutes long. During this time, she went around the earth with the entire crew 252 times, travelling 10.45 million kilometers. During their mission, the crew performed experiments such as pollinating plants to observe food growth in space, and tests for making stronger metals and faster computer chips – all for a price tag of about 56 million dollars.