Virgin Galactic Thursday named Indian Canadian Shawna Pandya to its crew to fly aboard the Delta class planes set to launch by 2026.
Space.com reports Pandya is with the non-profit International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS). Its mission is to perform educational activities and test new technologies in suborbital aircraft.
“It is not lost on me that I am the first named Canadian female commercial astronaut, and the fourth Indian origin female astronaut,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “These communities have shaped who I am, and I promise to do you proud.”
It’s been a long journey for Pandya.
She’s been with IIAS for nine years.
“Today I embark upon what I know I was born to do,” she said.
India West reports she is a physician, aquanaut, bioastronautics researcher, and Director of IIAS’s Space Medicine Group. She tested a commercial spacesuit in zero gravity back in 2015, part of the first crew to do so.
She also earned a black belt in Taekwondo, so any space aliens may want to think twice before messing with her.
Pandya will be part of an all-women crew- joining researchers Kellie Gerardi of the United States and Dr. Norah Patten of Ireland.
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