Sirisha Bandla | |
|---|---|
శిరీష బండ్ల | |
| Born | |
| Status | Active |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Purdue University, George Washington University |
| Space career | |
Current occupation | Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations, Virgin Galactic |
Previous occupation | Commercial Astronaut
 |
Time in space | 14 min 17 seconds |
| Selection | Virgin Galactic |
| Missions | Virgin Galactic Unity 22 |
Mission insignia |  |
Sirisha Bandla (Telugu: శిరీష బండ్ల; c. 1988) is an Indian-American aeronautical engineer and commercial astronaut.[2] She is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations for Virgin Galactic.[3] She flew on the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission which made her the second India-born woman to go to space and the fourth person of Indian descent ever to go past the line of space after Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.[4][5][6]
- ^ "Meet Sirisha Bandla: India-born woman set to go to space alongside Richard Branson". The Economic Times. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ Fisher, Kristin (10 December 2021). "First on CNN: The US gives Bezos, Branson and Shatner their astronaut wings". CNN. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
The US government is making it official, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and William Shatner have earned the title of astronaut after their flights to the edge of space. The Federal Aviation Administration will also award Commercial Space Astronaut Wings to 12 other people who have flown at least 50 miles above Earth on a FAA licensed commercial spacecraft, including the crew of SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission. The FAA will award wings to eight people who flew on Blue Origin's New Shepherd spacecraft, three who flew on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, and to the four members of the SpaceX crew who spent three days in space in September.
- ^ "Exclusive: Sirisha Bandla's Proud Grandfather on Second India-Born Woman in Space". The Better India. 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
- ^ "Sirisha Bandla: India celebrates woman who flew on Virgin Galactic". BBC News. 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
- ^ "Family of Indian-American astronaut on Virgin Galactic crew "happy and overwhelmed"". Reuters. 2021-07-05. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
- ^ Madhok, Diksha (12 July 2021). "Sirisha Bandla, India-born woman and Virgin Galactic executive, flies into space with Richard Branson". CNN. Retrieved 2021-07-13.