SHINING WITH THE STARS

Astronaut SIRISHA BANDLA worked hard at her dream of going into space despite having it shattered once. The young Indian-origin astronaut talks to Shraddha Kamdar about her incredible experience in space – and about doing a somersault!

-  Shraddha Kamdar

The earliest memory that Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations at Virgin Galactic, has of experiencing the night sky is sleeping on the roof at her grandparents’ home in Chairala, Andhra Pradesh, seeing the stars shine bright since the air was devoid of any pollution. Although she can’t pinpoint the exact moment in life when she decided to become an astronaut, she knows it all began there on that terrace. “I think that’s really what sparked my curiosity; it made me want to know what’s out there and how it feels to rub shoulders with the stars,” she remembers. Over the years, it naturally progressed into her wanting to be an astronaut, “because, you know, those are the people going up into space!”