Sirisha Bandla is the second Indian born woman after Kalpana Chawla to be visiting space. She is a part of the 6 person crew on the Virgin Galactic test space flight.
Sirisha was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Purdue University with a degree in aeronautical engineering. She also has a Masters degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University. She worked as an aerospace engineer in Texas for a short while and later joined the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. She joined Virgin Galactic in 2015 and has risen to the position of vice president of the company’s government affairs.
The test flight is Virgin’s first fully crewed rocket powered flight and is set for July 11. Sirisha is extremely happy and honoured to be a part of this mission.
Her family, friends and many politicians too have expressed their happiness. Her grandfather Dr Ragaiah stated that “Sirisha is brave and strong in decision making and fascinated by the sky from the beginning. I’m very happy that she’s going to space with five other members. I along with my friends and relatives wish her a successful and happy return to the land after completion of her journey.”
