NASA has announced its latest astronaut class, which includes a remarkable candidate with previous spaceflight experience. On September 22, 2024, the agency introduced ten new members—five men and five women—who will undergo training for future missions to commercial space stations, the Moon, and potentially Mars. Among them is Anna Menon, who has already ventured into space during the Polaris Dawn mission.
Menon’s flight took place in September 2024, making history as part of SpaceX’s ambitious Polaris Program, initiated and financed by billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. He commanded the mission, which took place aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named “Resilience.” The crew, which included pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and fellow mission specialists Menon and Sarah Gillis, reached Earth orbit on September 10, 2024.
The five-day Polaris Dawn mission achieved several significant milestones. It reached a maximum altitude of 870 miles (1,400.7 kilometers), the farthest any crewed spacecraft has traveled from Earth since the Apollo era. Notably, Menon and Gillis became the first women to fly at such heights, surpassing previous records set during the male-only Apollo missions. The mission also marked the first-ever private spacewalk, during which Isaacman and Gillis partially exited the capsule, experiencing the vacuum of space.
During the astronaut announcement ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Menon chose to highlight her background in biomedical engineering over her spaceflight experience. She holds a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University and has previously worked as a biomedical flight controller at NASA, focusing on medical hardware and software for the International Space Station.
“My first role out of graduate school was here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center,” Menon stated. “In that role, our job was to support the medical hardware and software on the International Space Station and help keep the astronauts healthy and safe from Mission Control.” She expressed her excitement about rejoining the NASA family and the future of space medicine.
Reflecting on her vision for space medicine, Menon emphasized the importance of understanding how humans adapt to different gravitational conditions. “As more and more people venture into space, we have this awesome opportunity to learn a tremendous amount to help support those astronauts and those people that are flying in those adventures,” she noted.
The newly formed astronaut class is the 24th in NASA’s history and the first since 2021. Alongside Menon, the group includes Ben Bailey, Lauren Edgar, Adam Fuhrmann, Cameron Jones, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, Imelda Muller, Erin Overcash, and Katherine Spies. Each of these candidates will undergo two years of rigorous training to prepare for various space missions, including potential expeditions to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program and the possibility of setting foot on Mars.
As NASA embarks on this exciting new chapter, the inclusion of experienced astronauts like Menon signals a commitment to advancing human exploration beyond Earth. Her background in biomedical engineering and firsthand experience in space will undoubtedly contribute to the future of space travel and the health and safety of astronauts venturing into the cosmos.
