User:Sarahlappin/sandbox4

Sirisha Bandla (c. 1988) is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations for Virgin Galactic. She flew on the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission which made her the second India-born woman to go to space.

Early life and education
Bandla was born in the the Guntur district in the Southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India. After her birth, Bandla's family moved to Tenali in Guntur. Until the age of five, Bandla split her time between her Grandfather's house in Hyderabad, and her Grandmother's house in Tenali. Bandla later moved to Houston, United States with her parents.

Bandla received her Bachelor's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University. She subsequently achieved her Masters in Business Administration from Georgetown University.

Career
Bandla hoped to become a NASA astronaut but was ruled out on medical grounds due to her eyesight. She previously worked for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) as an aerospace engineer. At CSF, Bandla worked with Matthew Isakowitz. She later co-founded the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship in his honor. Bandla joined Virgin Galactic in 2015, where she works as the Vice President of Government Affairs. On Sunday 11th July, 2021 Bandla flew on the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 test flight alongside Sir Richard Branson, Dave Mackay, Michael Masucci, Beth Moses, Colin Bennet. The rocket plane flew 85km above Earth. During the flight, Bandla conducted an experiment from the University of Florida to investigate how plants react to the change in gravity. About her flight, Bandla's grandfather, Dr Bandla Nagaiah, said: “From a very young age she had this ambition to explore the sky, the moon, and the stars. Sirisha had set her eyes on space, and I am not at all surprised that she is all set to realise her dream."