Nasa on Tuesday launched astronaut Anil Menon, an Indian-American to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission marks Menon’s first journey into space and he is expected to spend around eight months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting scientific research as part of Expeditions 74 and 75.Menon lifted off alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. The Soyuz spacecraft is expected to dock with the ISS around three hours after launch, where the trio will join the Expedition 74 and Expedition 75 crews.Ahead of the launch, Menon shared his excitement in a post on X.“Excited to launch aboard Soyuz MS-29 from Kazakhstan and begin an eight-month mission supporting NASA and Expedition 74/75. Grateful for the NASA community, friends, family, and loved ones and excited for tomorrow,” he wrote.The mission marks Menon’s first journey into space, while it is the second spaceflight for both Dubrov and Kikina.During the mission, the crew will join Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev aboard the orbiting laboratory.The launch was attended by Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman, marking the first visit by a Nasa chief to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in eight years. His visit highlighted the continued cooperation between the United States and Russia on the International Space Station despite tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.Speaking during a meeting with the crew on Monday, Isaacman thanked Russia’s space agency Roscosmos for its support.“The integrated work performed over the past several months reflects the professionalism and dedication of everyone involved,” he said.Isaacman also met Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov before the launch.Although the US and Russia remain geopolitical rivals, both countries continue to cooperate on ISS missions through crew exchange agreements that allow American astronauts to fly on Russian Soyuz spacecraft and Russian cosmonauts to travel aboard US spacecraft.
Who is Anil Menon?
The 49-year-old Menon was born in Minneapolis to parents of Indian and Ukrainian heritage.Before joining Nasa’s astronaut corps, he built a career spanning emergency medicine, aerospace and military service. He served as a physician with the Himalayan Rescue Association, treating climbers in the Everest region and later became a colonel in the US Space Force. Earlier, he served in the US Air Force and was deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.Menon was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 2021 after previously working with SpaceX as its first flight surgeon, where he helped support the company’s human spaceflight programme.
Research aboard the ISS
During his approximately eight-month mission, Menon will support a range of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations aimed at improving future human spaceflight and benefiting research on Earth.His work will include studies on semiconductor crystal manufacturing in microgravity, blood circulation in space, space medicine using ultrasound assisted by artificial intelligence and augmented reality, and bioprinting of vascular tissue. He will also contribute to the station’s day-to-day scientific operations and experiments designed to support future long-duration missions beyond low Earth orbit.
