Indian-American astronaut Sirisha Bandla says it was an "incredible" and a "life-changing" experience to see the Earth from space during her maiden trip on Virgin Galactic's first fully-crewed suborbital test flight.

Sirisha Bandla is a 34-year-old aeronautical engineer who joined British billionaire Richard Branson and four others on board Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Unity to make a journey to the edge of space from the US state of New Mexico. She became the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian citizen to travel in space. 

Sirisha Bandla was born in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Houston. Her family moved to the US when she was 4 years old. 

Sirisha graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University in 2011. She finished her Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University in 2015.

Sirisha Bandla's poor eyesight could not meet the requirements to become a pilot or an astronaut for NASA. "I have wanted to be an astronaut but I wasn't able to go in the traditional National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) role and I took a very unconventional way to go to space and I do believe that a lot of people are going to be able to experience this and that's why we are here," she said.

Bandla described the moment as emotional and said, "I have been dreaming of going to space since I was young and literally it is a dream come true," she said.

"I am kind of still up there but I'm so glad to be here. I was trying to think about a better word than incredible but that is the only word that can come to my mind... Seeing the view of Earth is so life-changing but also the boost of the rocket motor kicking in. The whole trip to space and back is just amazing," Bandla told the NBC News in an interview.