Who is Anil Menon? The NASA astronaut set for his first International Space Station mission in 2026

ANIL Menon, as a flight engineer and Expedition 75 crew member, is set to have his first trip to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2026, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) official statement.

It said Menon is scheduled to launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft in June 2026, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. After lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the crew will spend roughly eight months aboard the ISS.

During his mission, Menon will carry out scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration, contributing to the well-being of people on Earth.

Who is NASA astronaut Anil Menon?

Born in the United States in 1976 to Indian and Ukrainian parents, Anil Menon is a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force and an emergency medicine physician. Before being selected as a candidate for becoming a NASA astronaut, he was a flight surgeon at NASA and the medical director at Space.

His father Sankara Menon is from Malabar in Kerala and mother a Ukrainian.

He studied at Harvard and Stanford universities. Menon was assigned to the 173rd Fighter Wing for military service and completed a residency in aerospace medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he authored a thesis on medical kits designed for commercial spaceflight.

Menon earned a bachelor's degree in neurobiology from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as a master's degree in mechanical engineering and a medical degree from Stanford University in California. He completed his residency training in both emergency medicine and aerospace medicine at Stanford and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

In his free time, he continues to practice emergency medicine at Memorial Hermann’s Texas Medical Center and mentors residents through the University of Texas’ residency program. Menon was SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, playing a key role in the launch of the first crewed Dragon spacecraft during NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission.

He also helped establish SpaceX’s medical infrastructure to support future human spaceflight missions. In addition, he served as a crew flight surgeon for both SpaceX missions and NASA expeditions aboard the International Space Station.

After being chosen as a NASA astronaut in 2021, Menon graduated with the 23rd class in 2024. Once his initial candidate training was complete, he started training for his debut space station mission.

Since 2016, his partner is Anna Menon—a Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX. The duo has two children.