Sirisha Bandla, who went on a space journey on 11 July 2021, was born in Andhra Pradesh. His father’s name is Murlidhar Bandla and mother’s name is Anuradha Bandla. Sirisha’s father is an agricultural scientist. Sirisha is the second Indian-born woman, after Kalpana Chawla, to fly to space. Before him, Rakesh Sharma and Sunita Williams were the other Indians to go to space. But Sunita was born in the US.
Bandla, an aeronautical engineer by profession, wrote on Twitter that he was proud to be involved in space travel. A crew of six members of US space agency Virgin Galactic’s ‘Unity 22’ will fly to space. 34-year-old Sirisha is part of this team.
Tweeting, obviously happy
The name of the mission, operated by Virgin Galactic (Washington DC), is ‘Unity 22’. This is the 22nd flight test of the VSS Unity spaceship and the company’s fourth crewed spaceflight. Sirisha is the Vice President of the Department of Government Affairs at Virgin Galactic.
Sirisha tweeted after news about the mission: “I feel incredibly honored to be part of Unity 22 and a company whose mission is to make space accessible to all.”
It is a proud moment not only for Sirisha’s family, but for the entire nation. His uncle, Ramarao Kannegati and some other family members, wished him on Facebook. Sirisha Bandla’s 85-year-old grandfather, Ragaiah Bandla opened up about his granddaughter’s childhood in an exclusive interview with The Better India. Ragaiah Bandla himself is a retired scientist.
Strong ability to take right decisions
Sirisha was born in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. But she grew up in Houston, Texas. He completed his graduation in Aerospace Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 2011. Then in 2015, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University. After his studies, he moved to Washington DC. Richard Branson Got a job in the company Virgin Galactic.
Although Sirisha has spent most of her time in the USA, her grandfather, Ragaiah, tells that she has been to India several times as a child. Sirisha’s grandfather says that she used to come to India during holidays or to attend some family function. During these visits, he realized that Sirisha had a strong ability to make the right decisions.
‘Always fascinated towards space’
Ragaiah said, “As a child, Sirisha was always fascinated by the sky and at night she found a different kind of pleasure looking at the stars. She used to ask many questions like how airplanes are flying, how stars are formed, why are they up and many more. I believe it was his inquisitive nature that inspired him to study aerospace engineering and today he got the opportunity to travel to space.”
When Sirisha informed him about this news, he jumped with joy. He was very happy that his granddaughter was going to travel to space. He said, “I am extremely proud of her achievements and determination. Now, I look forward to watching her launch online. Once she is back, I would like to meet her and hear her experiences.”
You can also watch the launch online by clicking here.
Original article: Roshni Muthukumar
Editing – G N Jha
Also read: Drone ‘Vibhram’ of IIT Kanpur wins three awards in international competition
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