Kerala-origin Dr. Anil Menon set for eight-month space mission; lift off at 8:17 PM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dr. Anil Menon, an Indian-American physician, engineer, and military officer, is scheduled to launch on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday. The spacecraft, Soyuz MS-29, is set to lift off at 8:17 PM (Indian Standard Time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Anil Menon is expected to spend approximately eight months aboard the International Space Station. He will be joined on the mission by two Russian scientists.

Although born and raised in the United States, Dr. Anil has deep familial ties to Kerala. His father, Shankaran Menon, hails from Ottapalam in Palakkad district. The family is also noted for its connection to the prominent freedom fighter and Congress leader Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair. Anil Menon's mother, Elizabeth, is from Ukraine.