Indian-origin astronaut Anil Menon lifts-off to ISS: Inside Russia's eight-month mission
NASA astronaut Anil Menon has launched to the International Space Station for an eight-month mission focused on human physiological adaptation to microgravity. The mission includes experiments on blood flow and semiconductor crystal manufacturing.
Why it matters
Advancing research on long-duration spaceflight is critical for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Indian-origin Nasa astronaut Anil Menon, along with his two Russian cosmonauts on Tuesday lifted off aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for his first spaceflight, beginning an approximately eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS).The spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8.17 pm IST (10.47 am EDT), carrying Menon alongside Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. After a two-orbit, three-hour journey, the Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to dock automatically with the ISS's Prichal module.Born in Minneapolis to an Indian father and a Ukrainian mother, the 49-year-old Menon is an emergency medicine physician, a US Space Force colonel, and a Nasa astronaut selected in 2021.Also read: Russia successfully launches Indian-origin Nasa astronaut Anil Menon to space What is the mission about?Menon and his crewmates will support Expeditions 74 and 75,…
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