NASA Astronaut Anil Menon's Russian Soyuz Launch | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Anil Menon's Russian Soyuz Launch | International Space Station

NASA astronaut candidate Anna Menon and her children watch as a Russian Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina of Russia, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio lifted off for their Russian Soyuz MS-29 mission at 7:47 p.m. local time to begin their long-duration stay aboard the orbital outpost.

During his stay on the station, Menon will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth.

Image Description: An adult and two children watch a rocket launch. The adult woman carries one child on her shoulder and holds hands with the other child. Their backs are to the camera, so we can see the text on the back of their t-shirts, which reads "Team Menon" in white and yellow writing.

This Soyuz MS-29 mission is Menon's first spaceflight after he was selected as part of NASA’s 2021 astronaut class. A native of Minneapolis, Menon is an emergency medicine physician, mechanical engineer, and colonel in the United States Space Force. He also has served as an expedition flight surgeon supporting the agency’s crew members aboard the space station.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon's Official Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-anil-menon/

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/menon-anil.pdf

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station helps NASA understand and overcome the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and build on the foundation for long-duration missions to the Moon, as part of the Artemis program, and to Mars.

To learn more about International Space Station research, operations, and its crews, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/station

Image Credit: NASA/John Kraus
Release Date: July 15, 2026

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