Dr Shawna Pandya is a general physician in Canada’s Alberta University Hospital.
She is also an astronaut preparing for two crucial space missions.
When they take off, she will be only the third woman of Indian origin, after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams, to fly to space.
Born in Canada, the 32-year-old was shortlisted after topping the Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) program.
Pandya said she will do experiments in bio-medicine and medical science.
She is part of a project called Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (PoSSUM), which will study the effects of climate change.
She will also work on Physiological, Health, and Environmental Observations in Microgravity (PHEnOM).
She is a prime crew member of Project Poseidon, a 100-day underwater mission at the Aquarius Space Research Facility in Florida.
