Sirisha Bandla has become the fourth person of Indian origin to have entered space, after Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
Bandla, 34, hails from Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, and her family settled in the US in the nineties, when she was a few years old.
On Sunday, Bandla, Vice President, Government Affairs and Research Operations at Virgin Galactic flew into space and landed back on Earth safely in about an hour-long flight along with the aerospace and space travel company's founder Richard Branson and four other employees.
Bandla became the second Indian-born woman, after Kalpana Chawla, to fly up into space, a feat described by her family and friends as a “fulfilling moment of her life-long ambition to be an astronaut.”
The “Unity 22” mission of Virgin Galactic generated much interest in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as Bandla is the first Telugu person to have entered space.
“That Sirisha is the first Telugu person / woman to be in space is interesting and important. But, Sirisha flying into space itself is the bigger story. Millions of people dream, but only a few persevere at making their dreams come true. I am proud of Sirisha for never wavering in her path, and prouder of her parents who helped her in pursuing her dream. I salute Sirisha and her parents for their courage,” said V Chowdary Jampala, a former president of Telugu Association of North America (TANA).
Sirisha's family consists of father Muralidhar Bandla, mother Anuradha Bandla and a sister. She grew up in Houston, Texas and is an engineer from Purdue University. She did post graduation from George Washington University. Her paternal grandfather Dr Bandla Ragaiah is a retired agriculture scientist in Guntur.
Sirisha regularly visits India and her next trip is scheduled for December.
As part of the space flight mission, Bandla's job was to evaluate the human-tended research experience, using an experiment from the University of Florida that requires several hand- held fixation tubes activated at various points in the flight profile.
CM conveys best wishes to Sirisha
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said that its a proud moment for the state as Guntur-born Bandla Sirisha flew on Virgin Gailactic spaceflight, and wished her good luck in the space mission.
The trajectory of the 34-year-old aeronautical engineer has been amazing and reached great heights and Sirisha, the second Indian-born woman in space, would propel to higher orbits by the successful mission of Unity 22, the chief minister said.
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