Women's Day: NFT of Kalpana Chawla's unpublished photos launched. Proceeds go to charity

Kalpana Chawla had died in the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003 when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Nine years after the death of Indian-born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla, her husband has released 10 of her unseen images to be sold as NFTs. The proceeds will go to towards educating and supporting poor children.

NFT (non-fungible token) Auction platform GuardianLink launched the exclusive NFT collection on the occasion of International Women’s Day.  The collection includes 250 NFTs -- 25 copies of each of the 10 images.  The photographs will also have personalised quotes by Kalpana Chawla, reported Economic Times.

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Prior to the launch, Chawla’s husband Jean-Pierre Harrison had said, "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."

"This set of NFTs will be released on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2022, on BeyondLife.club, powered by GuardianLink. 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.”

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Ramkumar Subramaniam, co-founder and chief executive officer, 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. We are glad that through us and with the help of Jean-Pierre Harrison, we will be able to connect and touch the lives of her million fans."

Chawla was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003 when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.