NASA astronaut with Kerala roots reaches International Space Station

NASA astronaut Anil Menon, who has roots in Kerala, and two Russian cosmonauts reached the International Space Station early Wednesday after a little over three hours aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft.

The Roscosmos spacecraft carrying Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8.17 pm IST on Tuesday, as the orbital laboratory passed over the launch site.

After an eight-minute climb into preliminary orbit, the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft began a nearly three-hour chase to the International Space Station before docking with the Prichal module at 11.52 pm.

The crew then carried out a series of checks on the spacecraft and the space station before the hatch was opened at around 2.00 am.

According to NASA, this marks Menon’s first spaceflight, while Dubrov and Kikina are embarking on their second missions to space.

The live video feed from the space station was briefly interrupted just as the hatch was about to open due to a loss of signal from the tracking and data relay satellites. The connection was restored 12 minutes later when the satellites came back within range.

Menon’s family members, including his astronaut wife Anna Wilhelm, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman were present at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the launch.

The trio joined 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 aboard the space station.

Menon, Dubrov and Kikina will spend around eight months aboard the International Space Station and 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 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 frontlines in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and also worked for the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest.

Menon’s father, K P Shankaran Menon, hails from Ottapalam in Kerala’s Palakkad district. His mother, Elizabeth, is an immigrant from Ukraine to America.

Menon, 49, has also spent a year in India as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to study and support Polio vaccination initiatives. He began his career at NASA as a flight surgeon in 2014 and worked with astronauts living and working on the International Space Station.

Menon joined SpaceX in 2018, where he started the company’s medical programme, helped prepare for its first human space flights and worked closely in the development of Starship, the super heavy rocket and spacecraft for undertaking missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in December 2021 and joined the two-year training programme the following month.

Menon’s wife Anna travelled to space in September 2024 as part of Polaris Dawn, a private crewed spaceflight operated by SpaceX. The spaceflight lasted for nearly five days.

While on board the ISS, Menon will conduct a series of experiments to study the physiological toll of long-duration spaceflight and examine how microgravity affects blood flow, vein structure, and blood composition in astronauts.

He will also help test technologies for producing intravenous fluids using the station’s potable water system. Such capabilities could become critical during deep-space missions where medical supplies are limited.

(With PTI inputs)