Kazakhstan, July 15: Indian-origin astronaut Anil Menon has made his first space flight. He has started his space flight on the Russian ‘Soyuz MS-29’ rocket.
He has traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan along with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
This is the second mission for Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. The team of three will stay at the space station for about 8 months, where they will engage in several important researches and return to Earth in early 2027.
The Soyuz rocket was launched today at 8:17 pm IST. After just three hours of travel, at around 11:26 pm, he will reach the space station. He will also study how blood circulation changes in space and bioprinting technology related to tissue repair.
Who is Anil Manen? Anil’s father is an Indian from Kerala and his mother is from Ukraine. He has a degree in neurobiology from Harvard University and has completed his mechanical engineering and medical education (M.D.) from Stanford University. Before joining NASA, he worked as the first ‘flight surgeon’ for Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
He is currently serving as a colonel in the US Space Force. Anil’s wife Anna Menon is also a famous astronaut, who recently made news through a private space mission.
Anil Menon has the distinction of being the most important person of Indian origin to fly in space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.