Published Aug 10, 2022 | 8:02 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 10, 2022 | 8:03 PM
Athira Preetha Rani, the daughter of V Venu and Preetha was born in Peyad in Thiruvananthapuram. (LinkedIn/Aathira P)
Athira Preetha Rani, 24 from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala has been selected for the astronaut training programme conducted by the International Institute of Astronautical Science.
The training programme is run jointly by the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency, and the National Research Council of Canada.
Athira would be the third Indian woman after Sunita Williams and Kalpana Chawla to become an astronaut if she successfully completes the programme. She will also be the first person from Kerala to achieve that distinction.
Athira underwent various stages of selection, including medical tests, to be enrolled in this programme.
Twelve trainees from various parts of the world are part of the group. The training lasts for three to five years.
Athira has said she wishes to do research in bioastronautics after that.
Athira Preetha Rani was born to V Venu and Preetha in Peyad in Thiruvananthapuram.
Local reports say Athira was interested in space and astronauts ever since she was studying in school. She attended the classes of Astra, an astronomical society, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Athira attended the Algonquin College in Ottawa in Canada at a young age and studied robotics on a scholarship.
She started saving money for training to join the airforce to become a pilot. She also completed a robotics course with good grades.
She then got married and the couple set up a startup in Canada for research related to space studies. They have also started the company Exo Geo Aerospace.
She wishes to do research in bioastronautics after her Nasa astronaut training programme.
“I fell in love with aerospace when my dad started working in an airport. The sky and space later turned into my life’s passion,” she writes in her LinkedIn profile.
