NASA Astronaut Anil Menon to Join ISS Mission in 2026

Photo: Instagram/@nasajohnson

NASA has said that astronaut Anil Menon will go on his first mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2026. He will be a flight engineer and a crew member for Expedition 75.

Menon will travel on the Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft with two Russian cosmonauts, Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. They will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their mission will last around eight months.

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During his time on the ISS, Menon will do many science experiments and technology tests. These will help people get ready for future missions to the Moon and Mars and will also benefit life on Earth.

Menon became a NASA astronaut in 2021 and finished his training in 2024. Since then, he has been preparing for his first flight.

He grew up in Minneapolis. His parents are from India and Ukraine. Menon is an emergency doctor, a mechanical engineer, and a colonel in the United States Space Force.

He studied neurobiology at Harvard University and got his medical degree from Stanford University. He also has a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Menon completed his emergency and aerospace medicine training at Stanford and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

In his free time, he works as an emergency doctor at Memorial Hermann’s Texas Medical Center and teaches medical residents at the University of Texas.

Before joining NASA, Menon worked at SpaceX as their first flight doctor. He helped launch the first crewed Dragon spacecraft on NASA’s Demo-2 mission. He also helped build SpaceX’s medical team to care for astronauts on future missions. Menon worked as a flight doctor for both SpaceX and NASA missions to the ISS.

For nearly 25 years, people have been living and working on the ISS. The research done there helps scientists learn more about space, keeps astronauts healthy, and prepares them for long missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA also plans to create more business opportunities in space for the future.