Shawna Pandya to join IIAS research spaceflight with Virgin Galactic

Indian-Canadian bioastronautics researcher will be taking her first spaceflight on Virgin Galactic’s new Delta vehicle

Dr. Shawna Pandya, Director of the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) Space Medicine Group, and two other bioastronautics researchers, are set to fly on first-of-its kind dedicated scientific mission on Virgin Galactic’s new Delta vehicle.

Besides Pandya, an Indo-Canadian physician, who was on the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero-gravity in 2015, the IIAS-02 Mission will include Kellie Gerardi of the United States, and Dr. Norah Patten of Ireland, according to an IIAS press release.

The IIAS-02 research spaceflight will advance the scientific knowledge and operational insights gained from the inaugural IIAS-01 research spaceflight with Virgin Galactic in 2023.

The IIAS team will collaborate closely with academic, government, and commercial partners to carefully plan the crew’s spaceflight activities to maximize the science and technology returns gained from this Mission.

Since 2015, IIAS has operated microgravity research and payload development programs that use a variety of Earth-based testbeds for space, including microgravity research flight campaigns in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada, gravity-offset facilities, and neutral buoyancy facilities, according to the release.

The international crew of IIAS-02 have years of experience working together as a team in dynamic, operational research environments.

To date, Pandya, a physician, aquanaut, bioastronautics researcher with the IIAS, skydiver, pilot-in-training, and VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies, has flown 10 parabolic flight campaigns, culminating in over 160 parabolas of experience in micro- and reduced gravity.

She earned her aquanaut designation on the 2019 NEPTUNE (Nautical Experiments in Physiology, Technology and Underwater Exploration) mission, and completed a second aquanaut mission, NEP2NE.

She served as Payload Crew and co-PI of the 2023 IIAS-01 suborbital research flight, as well as a PI and/or co-I for Ax-2, Polaris Dawn and Blue Origin payloads.

Her publications include a paper on medical guidelines for commercial suborbital spaceflight and book chapters on space technologies that have benefitted terrestrial medicine, psychological resilience in long-duration spaceflight, reproduction and sexuality in long-duration spaceflight, and the future of space medicine.

Her work is permanently exhibited at the Ontario Science Center alongside Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space. In 2022, Dr. Pandya was named to the Explorers’ Club’s “50 Explorers Changing the World.”

In 2024, she was recognized for her contributions by the Women’s Space Awards in the Medicine and Health category, and named a Karman Pioneer. Her work has been profiled by Nature Careers and the Royal Canadian Mint. The IIAS-02 Mission will be her first spaceflight.

“We are excited to continue to work with Virgin Galactic and its unique platform for human-tended microgravity research in our second spaceflight. In their tenures at IIAS, Kellie, Shawna, and Norah have consistently demonstrated the teamwork, excellence, and expertise needed to produce high-quality, cutting-edge research in operational environments. Our organization is looking forward to working with Virgin Galactic to optimize the research potential of their Delta-class space vehicles while opening the doors for future IIAS scientist-astronauts.” said IIAS Founder and Executive Director Dr. Jason Reimuller.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with IIAS in an expanded capacity,” said Virgin Galactic Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations, Sirisha Bandla.

“Our suborbital science lab is revolutionizing the field of microgravity research by offering routine, reliable access to space – and it’s great to see institutions like IIAS begin to build iterative and innovative campaigns around suborbital space-based research.”