NASA astronaut Anil to begin ISS mission on July 14

Anil Menon, a NASA astronaut of Indian descent, is set to embark on an eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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. He also worked for the Himalayan Rescue Association, caring for climbers on Mount Everest.

Menon, 49, also spent a year in India as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to study and support polio vaccination initiatives.

He is scheduled to travel to space aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft along with cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.