Indian-Origin NASA Astronaut Anil Menon to Embark on Eight-Month ISS Mission
Anil Menon will launch aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14 alongside two Roscosmos astronauts for a long-duration mission to the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon is set to begin an eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS), with his launch scheduled for July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Born in Minneapolis to Indian and Ukrainian immigrant parents, Menon is an emergency medicine physician and a colonel in the U.S. Space Force. He joined NASA's astronaut corps and is now preparing for his first long-duration mission aboard the ISS.
Menon will travel to space aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, operated by the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Joining him on the mission will be Russian cosmonauts Anna Kikina and Pyotr Dubrov.
The mission is expected to last around eight months, during which the crew will conduct scientific research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities aboard the orbiting laboratory.