Sirisha Bandla, a member of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program’s Executive Team, gave a TEDXManhattanBeach talk titled “The world needs more Astronauts.” Check out the video below!
At the time of Sirisha Bandla’s talk, only 598 people had been to space – one of whom was Sirisha. Sharing the awe-inspiring story of her sub-orbital flight to space, Sirisha explains how going to space improves life on earth, and why we need more people to share this life-changing experience.
Sirisha Bandla believes in making space more accessible to all through Space Tourism. For the past five years, she has served as VP of Government Affairs for Virgin Galactic, supporting both LauncherOne and SpaceShipTwo programs. Leading Virgin Galactic’s efforts on policy, regulation, and business development for scientific payloads, Sirisha also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Astronautical Society, Future Space Leaders Foundation, and American Society for Gravitational and Space Research. She also helps to coordinate the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program, mentoring students interested in pursuing a career in the commercial space industry. Previously, Sirisha served as Associate Director for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF), where she promoted the commercial space industry to make commercial spaceflight a reality. Prior to CSF, she worked as an aerospace engineer, designing components for advanced aircraft. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx