Sirisha Bandla of Virgin Galactic wants more women and people of color into space

Sirisha Bandla is one of five people who joined the billionaire Richard Branson on board Virgin Galactic Fly to space on Sunday.

The 34-year-old scientist is Virgin Galactic’s vice president of government affairs and research, and will handle a research project at the University of Florida on board.

When VSS unification After reaching an altitude of up to 55 miles, Bandera will become the second woman born in India and the third woman of Indian descent to leave the earth’s atmosphere.Although there are some Controversy about the point at which the planet ends and space begins.

In the months before the flight, the scientist bluntly stated that the aerospace industry and aerospace itself lack diversity.

In an interview with Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship in September 2020, Bandera said: “The women and people of color you don’t often see…I don’t see students like me often in this industry. It is a project to help college students enter the commercial aerospace industry.

Historically, most astronauts were white, male, and military.

analysis NASAIntake from 1959 to 2017 National GeographicHowever, it has been shown that the space agency’s situation is changing.It did not consider the emerging private aerospace industry, which Virgin Galactic Is part of it.

NASA selected non-white astronauts and female astronauts for the first time in 1978, when the agency hoped to add candidates with a wide range of backgrounds to its upcoming space shuttle program.

In 2013, the agency selected the same number of men and women.

In a promotional video released six days before the launch, Bandera also described the feeling of being given this role and Branson’s goal of using the private sector to bring everyone “space travel”.

“When I first heard that I had this opportunity, it was just…I thought it might have seized it well, and I couldn’t speak,” she said.

“This is a great opportunity for people from different backgrounds, different regions, and different communities to enter space.”

In an interview in 2015 with Rocket Women, a website run by Vinita Marwaha Madill of the European Space Agency, Bandera recounted how her old boss’s daughter asked if a girl could become an astronaut. “Every time she sees an astronaut speaking at an event or on TV, it is a male,” Bandera explained.

“This is what she thinks. Because of the lack of visibility, there are no female astronauts. So even if some female astronauts talk to them, it will resonate in different ways.”

When asked if the aerospace industry has become more inclusive of women, Bandera said: “I think it must have changed from the beginning. Look at the astronaut class, from all male to the latest 50/50. Class, this is unheard of.”

However, although women can now take on more roles, she added at the time: “I don’t think this is a completely equal playing field. I think it’s definitely a better environment. Everyone I’ve worked with awesome.

“I never felt like I was not the next person, because the people I worked with were great.

“But I have met some people who feel that they have no problem getting the job, but in the workplace, people may comment or speak quietly because you may be a female.”

For her, this mission will realize her dream of growing up in Houston near NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

But-like a space plane-Bandera’s space journey did not take a direct route. Her sight prevented her.

“I admit that I always wanted to be an astronaut, but when I was in high school, I saw the traditional route, maybe a pilot, or at least an engineer. I was excellent in my field and applied but my eyesight was terrible. ,” she told the Rockets women’s team.

“By the time I was in high school, it reached the limit where I could never become a NASA astronaut. I was a little disappointed, but I still want to enter the space industry.”