Sirisha Bandla is now third Indian-origin woman to fly into Space

Sirisha Bandla, who missed the opportunity to become a pilot or an astronaut due to her poor eyesight, has now become the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space.

Sirisha joined British billionaire Richard Branson on Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed suborbital test flight from New Mexico.

“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,” 34-year-old tweeted days before the flight.

Bandla, who was born in the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Houston, became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space.

Sirisha Bandla graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2011. She completed her MBA degree from George Washington University in 2015.