Andhra Pradesh origin Sirisha Bandla has become the third Indian-born woman to go on a space mission after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. The 34-year-old Bandla will join Sir Richard Branson, the company’s billionaire founder, and five others on board.
Bandla grew up in Houston, near NASA‘s Johnson Space Center, and always dreamed to become an astronaut. But poor eyesight meant she could not meet the requirements to become a pilot or an astronaut, derailing her high-school plan to go the Air Force-to-NASA route.
“I decided I was going to space no matter what. I didn’t know when it was going to happen, but I was pretty sure I would make it there someday,” said Bandla to TOI.
She actually made it! Bandla serves as the vice president of government affairs and research operations at Virgin Galactic and will serve as astronaut number 4 onboard the Virgin Galactic rocket ship. Her role will be that of a researcher. In a video, Bandla can be heard saying she was “speechless” when she first heard that she would be one of the six people on board the Virgin Galactic rocket ship.
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She even quoted, “I am taking a bit of India up there with me”.
Join us July 11th for our first fully crewed rocket powered test flight, and the beginning of a new space age.
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) July 1, 2021
The countdown begins. #Unity22
https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb. @RichardBranson pic.twitter.com/ZL9xbCeWQX
In September 2020, Bandla had raised concerns over the low representation of women and non-white people in the commercial spaceflight industry. She also stressed the need for young students to join the space industry. And there she is – a colored Indian woman reaching for stars in a literal sense.
“Women and people of color you don’t often see…I don’t often see students that look like myself in this industry just yet,” she said.
Virgin Galactic plans three more test flights before taking non-astronaut “customers” to space. Branson was initially supposed to be on the second demo coming up but moved it up in an apparent bid to beat Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Bezos said Wednesday, after his other company Virgin Orbit launched a batch of satellites, that it’s important for his customers to see him ride his rocket ship first before they climb on board. The tycoon will be flying to space on July 20.