On July 11, joining a global audience tracking the flight of ‘Unity 22’ into space will be two humble households from semi-rural Andhra Pradesh. Bandla Ragaiah in Guntur and Venkat Narsaiah in Tenali will be rooting for the success of Virgin Galactic’s test mission. Aboard the spacecraft carrying the founder of the Virgin group, Richard Branson will be their doting granddaughter, astronaut 004, Sirisha Bandla.
The 34-year-old, who currently holds the position of vice-president of government affairs at Virgin Galactic in Washington DC in the US, belongs to a family of science graduates. Her maternal grandfather, Venkat Narsaiah, who hails from Prakasam district, worked as a professor of Chemistry. Her paternal grandfather who now resides in Guntur district retired as principal scientist from a government-run agriculture university. Her father, Bandla Muralidhar is a scientist employed with the US government. Her elder sister Pratyusha Bandla is a Biological science Technician in Maryland.
Sidhhardha Nagar in Guntur town has suddenly come under media glare. As soon as the news spread that Sirisha is going to be a part of the 6-member team of ‘Unity 22’, Ragaiah became the most sought-after man in Guntur town.
“I am really tired with all the calls,” said Ragaiah while talking to THE WEEK. He gave a lowdown on his granddaughter, “She is very focused and dedicated. I am so proud of her. She is a very inspiring person as she developed herself for the space mission. She was always fascinated by aircrafts and space. She had expressed to me her desire to be an astronaut several times.”
According to him, Sirisha was also interested in designing and researching aviation related topics.
Sirisha will be the third woman of Indian origin to enter space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. Ragaiah is just happy about his granddaughter joining this list. “In our family, we give all the support and freedom to women to achieve what they want.”
Sirisha was raised in India till she was 4 years and she spent most of her time with her grandparents as her father had moved to the US. Venkat Narsaiah, another grandfather who lives in Tenali, talks about Sireesha. “She was a courageous and confident girl right from a young age.”
For him, all the photos Sirisha had sent him over the years while posing in front of flights makes sense now. Recalling the many trips Sirisha made to India, he said, “When she was young, I had taken her to all the nearby villages and introduced her to relatives. She never got irritated and ate whatever food was available to her without demanding anything.”
Narsaiah last met Sirisha in 2019 when she visited him and he had no idea that two years later she could be on the verge of creating history.
Sirisha graduated in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University and completed MBA from George Washington University. She was the Associate Director of Commercial Spaceflight Federation till 2015, after which she joined Virgin Galactic. In the upcoming ‘Unity 22’ spaceflight, Sirisha will be testing researcher experience.
The family members recall that though Sirisha’s sight was set on NASA, she could not make it. And the disappointment only made her resolve stronger to be the part of a space mission.
Immediately after Virgin Galactic announced their test flight, putting out details of the crew, Sirisha tweeted, “I am so incredibly honoured to be a part of the amazing crew of #Unity22, and to be a part of a company whose mission is to make space available to all.”
On her Instagram account, Sirisha wrote about her role in the latest mission, “On this flight I will be testing the researcher experience- hoping to pave the way for future scientists, technologists, and educators to utilize SpaceShip to further our understanding of our planet and the space that surrounds it.”
