Nasa on Tuesday launched astronaut Anil Menon, an Indian-American to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission marks Menon’s first journey into space and he is expected to spend around eight months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting scientific research as part of Expeditions 74 and 75.Menon lifted off alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. The Soyuz spacecraft is expected to dock with the ISS around three hours after launch, where the trio will join the Expedition 74 and Expedition 75 crews.Ahead of the launch, Menon shared his excitement in a post on X.“Excited to launch aboard Soyuz MS-29 from Kazakhstan and begin an eight-month mission supporting NASA and Expedition 74/75. Grateful for the NASA community, friends, family, and loved ones and excited for tomorrow,” he wrote.The mission marks Menon’s first journey into space, while it is the second spaceflight for both Dubrov and Kikina.During the mission, the crew will join Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev and Andrei Fedyaev aboard the orbiting laboratory.
