Anil Menon

Dr. Anil Menon was selected by NASA to join the 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class. He reported for duty in January 2022. Menon was SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, helping to launch its first humans to space during the Demo-2 mission and building a medical organization to support the human system during future missions. Prior, he served NASA as the crew flight surgeon for various expeditions on the International Space Station. Menon is an actively practicing emergency medicine physician with fellowship training in wilderness. As a physician he was a first responder during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and the 2011 Reno Air Show accident. He also previously supported the U.S. Air Force as a flight surgeon and logged over 100 sorties in the F-15 and transported over 100 patients as part of the critical care air transport team. Menon launched aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14, 2026, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina for an approximately eight-month mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. Menon was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants. He is married to Anna Menon, and they have two children. Menon enjoys teaching general aviation as a certified flight instructor and has logged over 1,000 hours as a pilot. He enjoys endurance races such as Ironman and Kokoro and backpacking with his family. Graduated Saint Paul Academy and Summit School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1995. Bachelor’s Degree in Neurobiology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999. Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, 2004. Doctor of Medicine, Stanford Medical School, 2006. Residency in Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, 2009. Fellowship in Wilderness Medicine, Stanford University, 2010. Residency in Aerospace Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, 2012. Master’s in Public Health, UTMB-Galveston, 2012. Current board certification in aerospace medicine and emergency medicine. Menon started as a NASA flight surgeon in 2014. He supported four long-duration crew members on the International Space Station as the deputy crew surgeon for Soyuz missions Soyuz 39 and Soyuz 43 and prime crew surgeon for Soyuz 52. As a member of the Human Health and Performance Directorate, he also served as the medical lead for the health maintenance system and direct return aircraft development. He lived and worked in Star City, Russia, for more than six months. Menon reported for duty in January 2022 to complete two years of initial astronaut training as a NASA astronaut candidate.