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Sirisha Bandla is set to head to space on July 11 as part of Virgin Galactic s first fully crewed flight test.
The 34-year-old aeronautical engineer will become the third Indian-origin woman to head to space.
Bandla will be astronaut no 004 and her flight role will be Researcher Experience.
Houston: Sirisha Bandla, a 34-year-old aeronautical engineer, is set to become the third Indian-origin woman to head to space when she flies as part of Virgin Galactic s first fully crewed flight test on Sunday.
Bandla, who was born in the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Houston, Texas, will join Sir Richard Branson, the company s billionaire founder, and five others on board Virgin Galactic s SpaceShipTwo Unity to make a journey to the edge of space from New Mexico.
What to know about Richard Branson s spaceflight, as billionaires race to the cosmos
Richard Branson prepares for space flight
Replay Video UP NEXT Sir Richard Branson is set to briefly leave earth s atmosphere on Sunday, risking it all to usher in a new era of space tourism that has been propelled by a billionaire-backed commercial space industry. We ve spent 17 years trying to get to this stage, Branson said in an interview with ABC News Good Morning America last week. I m just expecting the most extraordinary trip of my lifetime and by pioneering it myself, an extraordinary trip of a lifetime for other people in the future.
Virgin Galactic s launching Richard Branson to space: Why you should care CNET 5 hrs ago
SpaceShipTwo Unity Released From VMS Eve for Second Glide Flight in New Mexico
In less than 24 hours, if all goes according to plan, Virgin Galactic s SpaceshipTwo Unity and the carrier aircraft VMS Eve will take off from a lonely runway in one of the most desolate stretches of desert in North America. A full crew will be aboard the suborbital spaceplane for the first time, including two pilots, three employees and Richard Branson, the company s 70-year-old billionaire founder.
One crew member, Virgin s chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses, will be making the trip for the second time. But the star of the show will be Branson, who has invested over 16 years and more than $1 billion to finally make the short trip to the edge of space, experience weightlessness and gaze upon Earth as only a privileged few hundred other humans have.
Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic prepare for launch Denise Chow
Richard Branson may soon have new bragging rights.
The British entrepreneur is aiming to earn his astronaut wings Sunday, attempting to fly to space aboard a rocket-powered vehicle developed by his space tourism company, Virgin Galactic. Though just a test flight, the expedition Virgin Galactic’s first with a full crew could be a major boost for the company, which is aiming to start commercial flights with paying customers in 2022.
If successful, Branson’s trip to space would edge out fellow billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is planning a similar feat July 20 aboard a rocket and capsule designed by his own space company, Blue Origin. Though Branson, 70, has shrugged off notions that he’s competing with Bezos, the timing of the two flights is the culmination of a yearslong rivalry among Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and other companies vying for a leg up in the burgeoning space t