Profile in STEM: Sirisha Bandla

Sunday, July 11th, 2021, will go down is history as the first time people from the private sector left the Earth’s atmosphere. Onboard the V.S.S. Unity’s fully crewed suborbital spaceflight was Sirisha Bandla. So, who is Sirisha Bandla? Let’s learn a little bit more about this role model in STEM.

Sirisha Bandla is 34 years old and currently serves as the Vice President of Government Affairs and Research for Virgin Galactic. Bandla grew up in the Houston area, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, so her dream to travel to space started at an early age. But like all of us, she confronted an obstacle and had to find a different way to follow her dream. Her poor eyesight meant she could not meet the requirements to become an astronaut or pilot. She explained the situation in an interview with Rocket Women: “I will admit that I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut, but when I was in high school I looked at the traditional route of maybe being a pilot or at least be an engineer, being great in my field and applying but my eyesight is awful.” Even though her eyesight prevented her from being a pilot or astronaut, she decided she still wanted to be in the space industry and that’s exactly what she did. Sirisha pursued a career in aeronautical engineering, graduating from Purdue University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She went on to get a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University in 2015.

In a promotional video from Virgin Galactic that was released before the launch, Bandla described how she felt when she learned she would be going to the edge of space and her thoughts about space travel for everyone. Check it out here:

She can now say that she was the second woman in history to make a commercial spaceflight and the 66th woman in history to fly in space. Thank you, Sirisha Bandla for reminding us to not ever give up on our dreams!