The third PIO woman astronaut |
Born in Canada with roots in Mumbai, Dr Shawna Pandya will become the third woman of Indian origin to go into the space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. The 32-year old general physician is one of two candidates shortlisted from 3,200 people enrolled in the Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) program. She will fly with eight other astronauts in space missions slated to take off by 2018. Her behemoth trajectory of achievements testifies that there is no limit to accomplishing if one is driven by ambition and possesses a strong work ethic to support that motivation. Not only is she an astronaut currently preparing for two space missions, but also a neurosurgeon, who worked in Canada’s Alberta University hospital in Edmonton. She is an opera singer, writer, international taekwon-do champion and has trained in Muay Thai with a Navy. She has even been a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, walked the runway as a model and given a TEDx talk about resilience. Her life has been one adventure after the other. Truly, what are astronauts if not modern day explorers. She has loved medicine, and she has loved the space – finding both exciting and immensely fascinating.
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