The Telugu woman from Andhra’s Guntur district who was brought up in Houston will become the second India-born woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla.
Sirisha Bandla has made
headlines as the second Indian-origin woman to head to space as part of Virgin
Space Ship Unity on July 11. Andhra Pradesh-born Bandla will be one of the six
space travellers aboard ‘VSS Unity’ of Virgin Galactic, scheduled to take off
from New Mexico alongside the company’s founder Richard Branson.
The Telugu woman from
Andhra’s Guntur district who was brought up in Houston will become the second
India-born woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla. Rakesh Sharma and
Sunita Williams were the other Indians who went into space before Bandla.
Taking to Twitter, the
34-year-old aeronautical engineer shared she was “incredibly honoured” to be
part of the crew. “I am so incredibly honoured to be a part of the amazing crew
of Unity22, and to be a part of a company whose mission is to make space
available to all,” she posted.
Sirisha is brave and
strong when making decisions, Dr Ragaiah, Bandala’s paternal grandfather told
news agency ANI. “I am overwhelmed with joy and happiness that my second
granddaughter is going to space. She has been very brave right from the
beginning and is a very strong decision-maker. She completed her schooling in
the US. She has always had a fascination for the sky,” said the 85-year-old.
Sirisha completed her
Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in
2011 from Purdue University and went on to do her MBA from George Washington
University in 2015.
She joined Richard
Branson’s Virgin Galactic after completing her studies and is currently the
Vice President of Government Affairs at the British-American spaceflight
company.
References:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/who-is-sirisha-bandla-know-all-about-indian-origin-woman-to-fly-to-space-101625460552861-amp.html
Image Source: Getty, BBC