Anil Menon launches on first ISS mission aboard Soyuz MS-29
Nasa astronaut Anil Menon launched from Baikonur with two Russian crewmates for an eight-month ISS mission. His first spaceflight will focus on medical and technology research crucial for future deep-space travel.
Nasa astronaut Anil Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from Kazakhstan on Monday for an eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Roscosmos spacecraft took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 8.17 pm IST and is set to dock automatically with the station's Prichal module at 11.56 pm IST after a two-orbit, three-hour journey.
This is Menon's first spaceflight and the second for both Dubrov and Kikina, Nasa said. Once aboard the ISS, the trio will join Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrey Fedyaev.
Menon's family members, including his wife, astronaut Anna Wilhelm, were at the Baikonur cosmodrome for the launch, along with Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman. The mission is expected to last about eight months, with Menon, Dubrov and Kikina scheduled to return to Earth in April 2027.
According to Nasa, Menon will 'conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth'. While on board the ISS, he will carry out experiments on the physiological effects of long-duration spaceflight and study how microgravity affects blood flow, vein structure and blood composition in astronauts. He will also help test technologies to produce intravenous fluids using the station's potable water system, a capability that could be important for deep-space missions where medical supplies are limited.
Menon will also continue research to improve in-space production of semiconductor crystals for large-scale manufacturing of components used in high-performance computers, artificial intelligence and medical devices. In addition, he will carry out ultrasound investigations using augmented reality and artificial intelligence methods that could remove the need for medical support from Earth during future space missions.
Born in Minneapolis to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants, Menon is an emergency medicine physician and a US Space Force colonel. During his time with the US Air Force, he served on the frontlines in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and also worked with the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest. His father, K P Shankaran Menon, is from Ottapalam in Kerala's Palakkad district, while his mother Elizabeth immigrated from Ukraine to the US. Menon, 49, also spent a year in India as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to study and support polio vaccination initiatives. He joined Nasa as a flight surgeon in 2014, moved to SpaceX in 2018 where he set up the company's medical programme and worked on its first human space flights and Starship, and was selected as a Nasa astronaut in December 2021 before beginning training the next month. His wife Anna travelled to space in September 2024 on the SpaceX-operated Polaris Dawn mission, which lasted nearly five days. The Soyuz mission now marks Menon's first journey to space and the start of his eight-month stay aboard the ISS.
With PTI Inputs
Nasa astronaut Anil Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from Kazakhstan on Monday for an eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Roscosmos spacecraft took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 8.17 pm IST and is set to dock automatically with the station's Prichal module at 11.56 pm IST after a two-orbit, three-hour journey.
This is Menon's first spaceflight and the second for both Dubrov and Kikina, Nasa said. Once aboard the ISS, the trio will join Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrey Fedyaev.
Menon's family members, including his wife, astronaut Anna Wilhelm, were at the Baikonur cosmodrome for the launch, along with Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman. The mission is expected to last about eight months, with Menon, Dubrov and Kikina scheduled to return to Earth in April 2027.
According to Nasa, Menon will 'conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth'. While on board the ISS, he will carry out experiments on the physiological effects of long-duration spaceflight and study how microgravity affects blood flow, vein structure and blood composition in astronauts. He will also help test technologies to produce intravenous fluids using the station's potable water system, a capability that could be important for deep-space missions where medical supplies are limited.
Menon will also continue research to improve in-space production of semiconductor crystals for large-scale manufacturing of components used in high-performance computers, artificial intelligence and medical devices. In addition, he will carry out ultrasound investigations using augmented reality and artificial intelligence methods that could remove the need for medical support from Earth during future space missions.
Born in Minneapolis to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants, Menon is an emergency medicine physician and a US Space Force colonel. During his time with the US Air Force, he served on the frontlines in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and also worked with the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest. His father, K P Shankaran Menon, is from Ottapalam in Kerala's Palakkad district, while his mother Elizabeth immigrated from Ukraine to the US. Menon, 49, also spent a year in India as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to study and support polio vaccination initiatives. He joined Nasa as a flight surgeon in 2014, moved to SpaceX in 2018 where he set up the company's medical programme and worked on its first human space flights and Starship, and was selected as a Nasa astronaut in December 2021 before beginning training the next month. His wife Anna travelled to space in September 2024 on the SpaceX-operated Polaris Dawn mission, which lasted nearly five days. The Soyuz mission now marks Menon's first journey to space and the start of his eight-month stay aboard the ISS.
With PTI Inputs
