Moment Of Pride For India: NASA Astronaut Anil Menon To Embark On Space Research Journey To ISS Tomorrow

Published 13 July 2026 · science

Moment Of Pride For India: NASA Astronaut Anil Menon To Embark On Space Research Journey To ISS Tomorrow Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: July

Moment Of Pride For India: NASA Astronaut Anil Menon To Embark On Space Research Journey To ISS Tomorrow Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: July 13, 2026, 19:23 IST Menon will serve as flight engineer and spend about eight months aboard the International Space Station to do critical research before returning to Earth in April 2027 Rapid Read NASA astronaut Anil Menon with his family (right). (News18) On the evening of July 14, when NASA astronaut Anil Menon launches aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft to the International Space Station, many in India will watch with hope and pride, as the accomplished astronaut shares deep Indian roots. The astronaut will serve as a flight engineer on his maiden spaceflight. Menon, a US citizen, born and raised in Minnesota, traces his Indian roots to Kerala through his father, while his mother is of Ukrainian origin. The state has already carved out its place in India’s space story with one of the country’s first four Gaganyaan astronaut-designates also from Kerala. Gaganyaan astronaut-designates Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, who also has roots in Palakkad, Kerala, wished Menon all the best for the upcoming mission.

“We met when I was in the US last year. I was part of Axiom mission 4, and he was already an astronaut. It was a good meeting, and we used to meet over coffee often and discuss our experiences. His space journey will definitely help promote space awareness and it is truly a special milestone for all of us to celebrate," Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair tells CNN-News18. Nair is currently training for India’s maiden human spaceflight Gaganyaan along with three other astronaut-designates. On July 14, @astro_anil is scheduled to lift off on his first-ever flight to the @Space_Station. We will be broadcasting his launch and arrival live on NASA+, YouTube, and other platforms. Learn when to watch: pic.twitter.com/6fY3um319L— NASA (@NASA) July 10, 2026 ON HIS MAIDEN SPACEFLIGHT Selected by NASA to join the 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class, Dr Menon is an actively practising emergency medicine physician. He will be accompanied by cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina who will join the Expedition 74 crew to continue the scientific research aboard ISS. While it is the second flight for both Dubrov and Kikina, it will be Menon’s first spaceflight.

The mission is set to lift off at 8:17 pm Indian Standard Time (10:47 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After a three-hour trip to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock at 11:26 pm to the Prichal module. The trip will spend about eight months aboard the orbital complex as International Space Station Expedition 74/75 crew members before returning to Earth in April 2027. WHAT WILL HE DO? Menon, a trained physician, has previously served NASA as the crew flight surgeon for various expeditions on the ISS. He was also SpaceX’s first flight surgeon helping to launch its first humans to space during the Demo-2 mission, and building a medical organisation to support the human systems during missions. He has also previously 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. Once aboard, Menon will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations to advance human space exploration. He will continue research to refine in-space production of semiconductor crystals for manufacturing components for high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, and improved medical devices.