After Shubhanshu Shukla, NASA’s Anil Menon gears up for Expedition-75 | World News

As ISRO’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla continues his Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), NASA astronaut Anil Menon is preparing for his first mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Menon will serve as a flight engineer and Expedition 75 crew member aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, scheduled to lift off in June 2026.
He will be joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina for an eight-month stint aboard the ISS adding to the growing Indian footprint in space.
The trio will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Once aboard the station, Menon will conduct a range of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations.
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Who is Anil Menon?
Selected NASA in 2021, Menon graduated with NASA’s 23rd astronaut class in 2024. Born and raised in Minneapolis, he brings an impressive mix of skills to the table. He’s an emergency medicine physician, mechanical engineer, and colonel in the U.S. Space Force.

NASA Astro Class 23The fly shape represents our class, “the flies”. Twelve stars represent the candidates of class 23 and the UAE and US flags are both displayed. And of course the astronaut pose represents our faith in NASA’s return to the moon while keeping an eye on Mars! pic.twitter.com/gxN75CL5Ag
— Anil Menon (@astro_anil) October 28, 2022
Menon also holds a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University, a master’s in mechanical engineering, and a medical degree from Stanford. He completed residencies in emergency and aerospace medicine at Stanford and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

It was worth the wait !!! pic.twitter.com/Btld3jGFsW
— Anil Menon (@astro_anil) September 15, 2024
Beyond NASA
Outside of spaceflights and experiments, Menon still practices emergency medicine at Memorial Hermann’s Texas Medical Center and teaches at the University of Texas residency program. Before joining NASA, he was SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, supporting the horic NASA-SpaceX Demo-2 mission. He also served as crew flight surgeon for multiple ISS missions.
Expedition-75
It is the 75th long-duration mission to the ISS, which is currently scheduled to launch in June 2026. The primary purpose of the ISS is to enable long-term exploration of space and provide benefits to people on Earth. Expedition 75 will likely contribute to this conducting various scientific experiments and research projects.