Nasa astronaut embarks on 8-month sojourn to International Space Station
Nasa astronaut Anil Menon and two Russian cosmonauts on Tuesday lifted off onboard a Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from Kazakhstan on an eight-month mission to the International Space Station.
The Roscosmos spacecraft carrying Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 8:17 pm IST.
After a two-orbit, three-hour trip to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock at 11.56 pm IST to the Prichal module. This marks Menon’s first spaceflight and the second flight for the Russian cosmonauts, according to NASA.
Menon’s family members, including astronaut wife Anna Wilhelm and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, were at the Baikonur cosmodrome for the spaceflight. Once aboard, 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, Dubrov and Kikina’s mission will last about eight months, and they are scheduled to return to Earth in April 2027. Menon will “conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth,” according to NASA. Yelena Remizova, head of Russia’s agency for international humanitarian cooperation, Rossotrudnichestvo, earlier told state-run TASS news agency that the rocket will carry with it drawings made by Indian schoolchildren. “These are the works of the winners of the ‘First Forever’ competition, dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the flight of the first Earth astronaut, Yury Gagarin, and cooperation between Russia and India in the field of space exploration,” she said.
Born in Minneapolis to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants, Menon is an emergency medicine physician and a US Space Force colonel. During his stint with the US Air Force, he served on the front lines in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and also worked for the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest.
Menon’s father, Shankaran, hails from Ottapalam in Kerala’s Palakkad district.
His mother, Elizabeth, is an immigrant from Ukraine to America.
