Dr. Anil Menon is set to travel to the International Space Station for the first time, reaching a key point in a career blending medicine, engineering and space exploration.
The NASA astronaut will launch on Russia’s Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14 for an eight-month stay during Expedition 75.
He will fly with Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
The flight has gained notice in Kerala due to Menon’s family ties to Palakkad district.
His father, Shankaran Menon, traces roots to Ottapalam, Kerala, and his mother, Elizabeth Samoilenko, comes from Ukraine.
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dr. Menon grew up in a multicultural household before pursuing work at the crossroads of healthcare, technology and spaceflight.
His path to astronaut status started with solid academic training.
He earned a degree in neurobiology from Harvard University, followed by a master’s in mechanical engineering and a medical degree from Stanford University.
Menon then focused on emergency medicine and aerospace medicine, gaining skills in human health under extreme conditions.
Before selection as an astronaut, he spent years aiding missions that enabled others to reach space.
He joined NASA in 2014 as a flight surgeon, supporting ISS crews and overseeing medical elements of human spaceflight.
In 2018, Menon moved to SpaceX to help build its medical program.
He later acted as lead flight surgeon for the company’s first crewed flights, assisting early human space efforts.
NASA chose Menon for its 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class, with training beginning in 2022.
His background also covers areas outside space.
Menon served as a US Air Force flight surgeon, aided combat operations in Afghanistan and provided care in harsh settings, including medical support for climbers near Mount Everest.
He has engaged in humanitarian efforts, offering medical aid after earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal.
On the coming ISS mission, Menon will aid studies on how the body adjusts to extended spaceflight.
His tasks will cover research into blood circulation, veins and blood makeup in microgravity.
Menon will also evaluate technology to create intravenous fluids from the station’s water system and assist medical work using ultrasound, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
The tests will support efforts to ready humans for trips beyond low Earth orbit, such as to the Moon and Mars.
Spaceflight runs in Menon’s family as well.
His wife, Anna Menon, works as a SpaceX engineer and astronaut who joined the Polaris Dawn private mission in 2024.
That flight achieved the first commercial spacewalk, with Anna serving as mission specialist and medical officer.
The couple, parents of two children, form an uncommon astronaut pair with both partners active in human spaceflight.
Menon also maintains a close tie with Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of India’s Gaganyaan astronaut candidates.
The two trained together in Houston and built a strong bond through shared preparation.
From family origins in Palakkad to his planned ISS journey, Dr. Anil Menon’s path highlights the expanding part played by physicians, engineers and scientists in current space exploration.
