Women's Day 2022: NFT series on the life of Kalpana Chawala to be launched

This Women’s Day, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are going to celebrate Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawala posthumously. NFT Auction platform BeyondLife.club will be launching an exclusive NFT collection comprising of 25 copies of 10 unseen images of the first Indian-American astronaut in space. Each NFT will also be accompanied by quotes from the astronaut.

Chawala was an Indian-born American astronaut and engineer who first flew as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997. Her second voyage was on STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia's last flight in 2003. She was one of the seven crew members killed when the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed on its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Jean-Pierre Harrison, Chawla’s husband said "She fought with sheer tenacity and raw passion to be the first Indian-American in space." He also added that "In recognition of Kalpana's achievements, I have approved the release of NFTs consisting of rare and previously unseen photographs of moments from her life.” 

Harrison further added that “proceeds from this sale will be donated to an Indian charity with an outstanding record of supporting and educating children from some of India's poorest areas”, "

This has not been the first time BeyondLife.club has launched an NFT series to celebrate an Indian personality. Previously, they launched an NFT collectable series celebrating Amitabh Bachchan.

BeyondLife.club is powered by GuardianLink. Ramkumar Subramaniam, Co-Founder & CEO of GuardianLink said, “ It is indeed a proud moment for us to have been launching Kalpana Chawla’s inspirational quotes and pictures in the form of NFTs on our platform.”

Many industry insiders believe that the NFT series focusing on Indian public figures will help in promoting the medium in India. India is so far an untapped market when it comes to NFTs and other aspects of Web3.