In 2015, Pandya was a member of the inaugural crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero gravity.
Shawna Pandya, an Indian researcher, will go to space on the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) and Virgin Galactic’s second research trip using a Delta Class spacecraft.
Following the November 2023 “Galactic 05” mission, which tested cutting-edge medical technologies and looked at how fluids behaved in low gravity to help inform designs for future medical technologies and life-support systems, this will be IIAS’s second research mission with Virgin Galactic.
Norah Patten, an aeronautical engineer and bioastronautics researcher from Ireland, Pandya, a physician, aquanaut, and bioastronautics researcher from Canada, and Kellie Gerardi, a bioastronautics researcher and IIAS Director of Human Spaceflight Operations, are among the IIAS astronaut crew members anticipated for the research mission.
In 2015, Pandya was a member of the inaugural crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero gravity. She has completed ten parabolic flying campaigns to far, accumulating over 160 parabolas of micro- and reduced gravity experience.
“We were ecstatic to see the outcome of our fluid cell experiment on ‘Galactic 05,’ which showed that we can predict fluid behavior in a container accurately in a weightless environment,” stated Gerardi.
Sirisha Bandla, the vice president of government affairs and research at Virgin Galactic, became the second woman of Indian descent to travel into space when she took part in the company’s “Unity 22” voyage.
“We are thrilled to carry on our collaboration with IIAS in a more comprehensive role,” stated Bandla.
