- World
- Jul 15
NASA astronaut Anil Menon, two others reach International Space Station
• Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon and two Russian cosmonauts reached the International Space Station onboard Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft after a little over three-hour journey.
• The Roscosmos spacecraft carrying Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off from Baikonur on July 14.
• After an eight-minute climb to the preliminary orbit, the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft began a nearly three-hour chase to the International Space Station to dock at the Prichal module.
• The trio joined NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev.
Who is Anil Menon?
• Anil Menon was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants.
• He is an emergency medicine physician and a US Space Force Colonel.
• During his stint with the US Air Force, he served on the frontlines in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and also worked for the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest.
• He supported the US Air Force as a flight surgeon and logged over 100 sorties in the F-15 and transported over 100 patients as part of the critical care air transport team.
• Menon, 49, has also spent a year in India as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to study and support Polio vaccination initiatives.
• He began his career at NASA as a flight surgeon in 2014.
• He supported four long-duration crew members on the International Space Station as the deputy crew surgeon for Soyuz missions Soyuz 39 and Soyuz 43 and prime crew surgeon for Soyuz 52.
• As a member of the Human Health and Performance Directorate, he also served as the medical lead for the health maintenance system and direct return aircraft development.
• In 2018, Menon joined SpaceX where he started its medical program and helped prepare for the company’s first human flights. He served as the lead flight surgeon for five launches and helped start their research program, private astronaut programs, and worked on development of the Starship
• Menon was selected as a NASA astronaut in December 2021 and joined the two-year training next month.
• His wife Anna Menon is also an astronaut and travelled to space in September 2024 as part of Polaris Dawn, a private crewed spaceflight operated by SpaceX. The spaceflight lasted for nearly five days.