NASA Astronaut Anil Menon Blasts Off For Mission Aboard International Space StationIndia-West News DeskHOUSTON, TX – NASA astronaut Anil Menon embarked on his first spaceflight on July 14, lifting off aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for an approximately eight-month mission on the International Space Station.
Before becoming an astronaut, Menon worked at the intersection of medicine, aviation and human spaceflight.
He served as a NASA flight surgeon before joining SpaceX in 2018 as its first flight surgeon, where he helped establish the company’s medical program and prepare for its first crewed missions.
Menon reported for astronaut training in January 2022 and completed two years of initial training before being assigned to the Soyuz MS-29 mission.
Menon is married to Anna Menon, a fellow NASA astronaut who traveled to space aboard the private Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 before joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2025.
NASA Astronaut Anil Menon Blasts Off For Mission Aboard International Space Station
India-West News Desk
HOUSTON, TX – NASA astronaut Anil Menon embarked on his first spaceflight on July 14, lifting off aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for an approximately eight-month mission on the International Space Station.
Menon, 49, launched from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. The spacecraft successfully entered orbit and was scheduled to dock with the ISS about three hours after liftoff.
The Minneapolis-born physician, engineer and U.S. Space Force colonel, who is the son of Indian and Ukrainian immigrants, was selected for NASA’s 2021 astronaut candidate class. He is the first American to travel to space since the Artemis II crew returned from its mission around the moon in April.
Before becoming an astronaut, Menon worked at the intersection of medicine, aviation and human spaceflight. He served as a NASA flight surgeon before joining SpaceX in 2018 as its first flight surgeon, where he helped establish the company’s medical program and prepare for its first crewed missions.
An emergency medicine physician with training in aerospace and wilderness medicine, Menon responded to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and the 2011 Reno Air Show accident. He also served as a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Menon’s ties to India also include a year spent in the country as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, supporting polio vaccination efforts after studying neurobiology at Harvard University. He later earned degrees in mechanical engineering and medicine from Stanford University and worked with the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest.
Menon reported for astronaut training in January 2022 and completed two years of initial training before being assigned to the Soyuz MS-29 mission.
During their eight-month stay aboard the ISS, Menon, Dubrov and Kikina will conduct scientific research and station maintenance. They will join NASA, European Space Agency and Roscosmos crew members already living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended the launch, the first visit by a NASA chief to Baikonur in eight years. His presence came as the United States and Russia continue to cooperate aboard the ISS despite tensions between Washington and Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Ahead of the launch, Isaacman met Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov and thanked the Russian space agency for its work in preparing the mission.
“The integrated work performed over the past several months reflects the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved,” Isaacman said during a meeting with the crew.
The flight is Menon’s first mission to space and the second for Dubrov and Kikina. The crew is expected to return to Earth in April 2027.
Menon is married to Anna Menon, a fellow NASA astronaut who traveled to space aboard the private Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024 before joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2025. The couple has two children.
