Indian-origin astronaut Anil Menon has received his inaugural space mission assignment from NASA. Mr. Menon will function as a flight engineer on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 75. The mission is set to launch in June 2026 aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, alongside Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. The crew is scheduled to depart from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is anticipated to spend around eight months on the ISS. Throughout the expedition, Anil Menon will assist in vital scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at enhancing long-duration human spaceflight and providing benefits to life on Earth. Anil Menon was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to parents who immigrated from India and Ukraine.
Anil Menon obtained engineering and medical degrees from Stanford University, followed by residencies in emergency and aerospace medicine, as well as a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in 2012.During his training, Mr. Menon joined the California Air National Guard, supported remote wilderness races, and acted as a first responder during significant disasters, including the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, he was deployed to Afghanistan to deliver emergency medical assistance. He was subsequently assigned to the 173rd Fighter Wing, where he logged over 100 sorties in F-15s and transported more than 100 patients with the US Air Force’s critical care air transport team.
He became a flight surgeon at NASA in 2014. In 2018, Anil Menon was appointed as SpaceX’s first flight surgeon and played a key role in the launch of the first crewed Dragon spacecraft during the Demo-2 mission. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021 and began his duties in January 2022. He completed two years of astronaut training and graduated with NASA’s 23rd astronaut class in 2024. Anil Menon continues to practice emergency medicine at Memorial Hermann’s Texas Medical Center and also teaches at the University of Texas. He is married to Anna Menon, who works at SpaceX, and they have two children. Anil Menon has received numerous awards, including the US Air Force Commendation Medal, NASA and SpaceX team awards, and multiple honours for academic and medical excellence.
