Anil Menon to become next Indian-American astronaut in space after Sunita Williams

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NASA astronaut Anil Menon will soon become the next Indian-American to go to space, following Sunita Williams but only the second overall. Menon was born to parents of Ukrainian and Indian immigrant backgrounds in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Menon’s exceptional academic achievements and unique multicultural background have given him a strong suitability for the assignment. He holds a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University, a master’s in mechanical engineering, and a medical degree from Stanford University. Menon is a Renaissance man, it seems.

Menon’s adventure with NASA started in 2014 as a flight surgeon, assisting ISS crews and Soyuz missions. He has also resided and worked in Star City, Russia, which provides him with good experience in international space activities. His skill set includes emergency medicine, aerospace medicine, and mechanical engineering, further making him a perfect fit for space travel. Menon was selected to be a member of the 23rd astronaut class at NASA in 2021 and was declared an astronaut in 2024, when he began extensive training for his first spaceflight.

Menon will make his first flight to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in June 2026. He’ll be a flight engineer and Expedition 75 crew member joined by Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. They’ll carry out scientific investigations and technology demonstrations during their around eight-month duration on the ISS with the goal of enhancing human exploration of space and improving life on Earth.

Outside his career at NASA, Menon is a qualified flight instructor with more than 1,000 hours of flying and loves competing in endurance events such as Ironman and Kokoro. He is married to Anna Menon, an employee at SpaceX, and they have two children. Menon’s inspiring story is motivating the next generation of Indian-Americans as well as space aficionados across the globe.

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