24-Year-old, Athira Preetha Rani a Thiruvananthapuram native has been selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for their astronaut training programme.
From always Athira has been fascinated with stars and planets and soon she will be completing her dream.
If Athira Successfully completes the training programme then she will become the third Indian Woman to fly the space after Kalpana Chawala and Sunita Williams.
Who is Athira Preetha?
Athira Preetha is a 24-year-old Thiruvananthapuram native and she is the daughter of V Venu and Preetha. From her school days Athira was interested in Space and her knowledge widened when she began attending the classes of Astra, an astronomical society in Kerala’s capital city.
Athira was very determined about what she wanted to do in her life and along with her studies she used to manage her work as well. Athira got into Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada, at a young age itself and from there she studied robotics and was on a scholarship.
But she has always dreamt about being a Pilot. And she saved her money and joined the flying school from where she completed her training and along with that she completed her robotics course with good grades.
At this time Athira also got married to the love of her life and together Athira and her Husband started a startup related to Space Studies. And after that they started the Exo Geo Aerospace Company.
How Athira got into Astronaut Training Programme
Athira and her husband already own a Aerospace Company and after that she started her research about various Astronaut Training Programme. And soon Athira got selected for the International Institute of Aeronautical Science.
This Training programme is jointly run by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), The Canadian Space Agency and The National Research Council of Canada. The training period for this programme will be 3 to 5 years.
There are many people from around the world who have been selected for this programme and if Athira she will be the third Indian Woman to go to Space.