Sirisha Bandla is an Indian-American aerospace engineer and astronaut. She is the third Indian-American woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. She was one of the space travelers when Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity launched from New Mexico on July 11, 2021.
Wiki/Biography
Sirisha Bandla was born in 1987 (34 years old in 2021) in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India. She grew up in Houston, Texas.
Childhood photo of Sirisha Bandla (far left)
She studied for a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA from 2006-2011. Thereafter, she pursued an MBA at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA from 2012-2015. Sirisha was independent-minded and determined to achieve her goals from an early age. Bandla was curious about flying from a young age and took her first flying adventure alone at the age of four. In an interview, her grandfather said,
At the age of four, she traveled alone to the United States, where her parents and sister lived. Although we knew the people accompanying her, she was a stranger. She was not afraid of flying alone. She was excited. ”
He further stated,
We don’t know how she developed an interest in airplanes, stars, and the sky. These interests have been there since she was a child. What she has achieved today is the result of her own efforts, and her parents gave her full freedom to pursue her dreams. She has proved herself to be excellent and has done it.”
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 7″
Weight (approx.): 50 kg
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Black
family
Parents and siblings
Sirisha Bandla is the daughter of B Muralidhar and Anuradha. Both her parents work for the US government. Her elder sister Pratyusha Bandla is a bioscience technician in the US.
Sirisha Bandla and her father
Sirisha Bandla with her mother and sister
Sirisha Bandla and her sister
other relatives
Sirisha’s grandfather Bandla Ragaiah was the chief scientist and professor at Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad.
Sirisha Bandla’s grandfather
Her maternal grandfather, Venkat Narasiah, is a retired chemistry professor who lives in Tenali in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
relation
Sirisha is dating a man named Sean Hu.
Sirisha Bandla and her boyfriend
Sean proposed to Sirisa in May 2019 and Bandera happily accepted the proposal.
Sirisha Bandla and Sean Hu
Profession
Sirisha began her career as a design, test and analysis collaborator at ATA Engineering. She worked there for about three years before joining L-3 Communications Integrated Systems as a mechanical engineer. In 2012, she became the deputy director of space policy at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF), a trade association for space companies.
Sirisha Bandla and XCOR X-Racer
In July 2015, Sirisha joined Virgin Galactic (British-American space company) as a Government Affairs Officer.
Virgin Galactic Offices
In 2017, she was promoted within the organization to manager of business development and government affairs. She has since served as manager of business development and government affairs and director of Washington operations for Virgin Orbit. In 2021, she became vice president of government affairs for the Virgin Group.
Sirisha Bandla and the Unity 22 test team
As of 2021, Sirisha also serves on the boards of the American Astronautical Society and the Future Space Leaders Foundation.
Sirisha Bandla’s Wardrobe
The third Indian woman to fly into space
On July 11, 2021, Indian-origin aerospace engineer Sirisha Bandla became the third Indian-origin woman to travel into space when she flew into space on Virgin Galactic’s first all-crew suborbital test flight from New Mexico alongside British billionaire Richard Branson. The spaceplane took off over New Mexico on a 1.5-hour mission after a 90-minute delay due to bad weather. A few days before the flight, Bandla shared her excitement about going into space. She said,
I’m incredibly honored to be part of the amazing team at #Unity22 and to be part of a company whose mission is to make space accessible to everyone.”
I am very honored to be #Unity22and be part of a company whose mission is to make space accessible to everyone. https://t.co/sPrYy1styc
— Sirisha Bandla (@SirishaBandla) July 2, 2021
Ms. Bandera said after the trip:
I’m still there, but I’m so glad to be here. I tried to think of a better word than incredible, but it’s the only one I can think of…getting that view of Earth was truly life-changing…the whole trip to space and back was amazing.”
Sirisha Bandla looks out the window of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity manned rocket plane at Earth’s zero gravity after reaching the edge of space on July 11, 2021
Favorite Things
- Dessert: Vanilla ice cream, homemade candies
- Astronaut: Neil Armstrong
Facts/Trivia
- Sirisha is often spotted drinking alcohol on various occasions.
- In her free time she enjoys traveling and playing adventure sports.
- Bandla follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- She is fluent in two languages – English and Telugu.
- As of 2021, Bandla resides in Washington, D.C.
- Sirisha is very fond of animals and she has a pet cat.
Sirisha Bandla and her cat
- In an interview, her grandfather revealed that Sirisha often visited NASA while her family lived in Houston. He said,
She was very interested in flying airplanes and even though she couldn’t join NASA due to her vision problems, she continued to pursue higher education in the same field. To help people like her, she made a video on YouTube – “Lessons from Bandla Sirisha on how to get into the aerospace industry.”
- Sirisha was a lively and fearless child. In an interview, her grandfather said about Sirisha:
When I come home late at night, I often ask her not to go out. But she always tells me not to worry and that she can take care of herself. ”
- In an interview, her grandfather shared details of her childhood, saying:
Even when the power went out, other kids her age would be afraid of the darkness, but she wasn’t.”
- Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu congratulated Sirisha on her achievement through his Twitter account. He also shared two pictures on his Twitter account – one of Sirisha’s individual picture and the other of all six crew members. He wrote on Twitter,
Women of Indian origin continue to break the so-called glass ceiling and prove their mettle. On July 11, Sirisha Bandla, who is of Telugu descent, will fly into space with Richard Branson and his team on the VSS Unity spacecraft, marking the advent of the new space age and making all Indians proud!
- Bandla is closely associated with the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), one of the oldest and largest Indian-American organizations in North America.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education