New Mexico: Grandfather of Sirisha Bandla, who will be the second Indian-born person and the first of Telugu origin to go to space, expressed his happiness over the news of the young woman’s voyage to space along with Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson.
He said Bandla is strong and determined and has always been fascinated with the sky.
“I, along with my friends and relatives, wish her a successful and happy return to the land after completion of her journey,” grandfather Ragaiah Bandla added.
Bandla, born in Andhra Pradesh and raised in Texas, will be one of the six space travellers aboard ‘VSS Unity’, scheduled to take off on July 11 from New Mexico. This will make her the second India-born woman, after Kalpana Chawla to travel to space.
Bandla presently serves as the vice president of government affairs at Virgin Galactic and she studied at Indiana’s Purdue University’s school of aeronautics and astronautics.
Sirisha will be the fourth person of Indian origin to fly into space after Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
Virgin Galactic is an American private space agency that will launch its spacecraft ‘Unity 22’ next weekend as part of the test flight. Four mission scientists, including the founder of Virgin Galactic Richard Branson, will evaluate the experience of the Virgin Galactic Astronaut. Branson will be accompanied by Sirisha, Beth Moses, and Colin Bennett.
