Wikipedia

Anna Menon

Anna Menon
An woman in a blue flight suit is sitting in front of US & NASA flags; she is facing the camera with crossed arms and is smiling.
Menon in 2025
Born
Anna Wilhelm

(1985-12-24) December 24, 1985 (age 39)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Education
Spouse
​
(m. 2016)​
Children2
Space career
SpaceX commercial astronaut
NASA astronaut candidate
Previous occupation
Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX
Time in space
4 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes
SelectionNASA Group 24 (2025)
MissionsPolaris Dawn

Anna Menon (née Wilhelm; born December 24, 1985) is an American engineer and NASA astronaut candidate, formerly employed by SpaceX as lead space operations and a mission director. She flew on Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission operated by SpaceX on behalf of Jared Isaacman. During the September 2024 mission, she served as the onboard medical officer and, along with Sarah Gillis, set the record for women traveling farthest from Earth. She was selected in September 2025 as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 24.

Menon previously worked as a biomedical flight controller at NASA for seven years, overseeing operations at the International Space Station before joining SpaceX and returning to NASA as an astronaut.

Education

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Menon graduated from Texas Christian University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and Spanish.[1][2] She went on to earn a Master of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University in 2010.[3]

Menon was also a member of the Iota Lambda chapter of Alpha Chi Omega sorority at Texas Christian University.[4]

Career

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NASA flight controller

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Menon worked at NASA for seven years, and for six of those years she served as a biomedical flight controller for the International Space Station, assisting ISS crews from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and leading biomedical operations for Expedition 41[5][6] including ISS US EVA's 27 and 28.[7]

SpaceX

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Menon joined SpaceX in July 2018 as a Space Operations Engineer. She was promoted to Lead Space Operations Engineer in November 2019.[8] In her position, she manages the development of crew operations, ensuring that procedures and protocols are in place for astronauts during their missions.[9][6] She also served in the company's mission control, including during the Demo-2 flight. During Inspiration4, a private spaceflight funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, she served as technical adviser to the family members of the all-civilian crew, explaining the complexities of spaceflight. Shortly after Isaacman returned from space, he picked Menon to be part of his Polaris Dawn mission. During the mission, Menon served as the on-board medical officer and helped carry out science experiments during the trip.[10][11][12]

NASA astronaut

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Menon was selected in September 2025 as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 24.[13][14] She is the first candidate selected by NASA to have flown on a private orbital spaceflight prior to joining the NASA Astronaut Corps.[15][16]

Personal life

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Anil and Anna Menon at NASA Mission Control Houston Texas to direct ISS US EVA 28

Anna married Anil Menon, who is a NASA astronaut and a former SpaceX employee, on October 15, 2016, in a ceremony in Houston.[17] They have two children together.[4][18] Both she and her husband appeared in the final episode of the five-episode television documentary entitled Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, released on Netflix in September 2021.[19] In June of 2024, Anna published a book "Kisses from Space", which is a children's book that is described as being "the story of a mama dragon coming home from an out-of-this-world adventure and, snuggling her baby dragons close, she tells them of her journey and how she thought of them the entire time."[20] She planned to read the book to her kids while on the spacecraft to remind them that she is always thinking of them. SpaceX shared that a video of her reading the book will be shown to her children live.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Washam, Delaney (May 28, 2024). "Arithmetic and Astronauts: Alumna Anna Menon Apart of Polaris Dawn Mission". Texas Christian University College of Science & Engineering. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  2. ^ "History in the Making: Alumna's Journey Will Be Out of This World". Texas Christian University. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Dixon, Mandy (November 3, 2023). "To Infinity and Beyond". Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Brown Moore, Karlee (Winter 2023). "Seeking the Heights Out of This World". The Lyre. Vol. 126, no. 2. Alpha Chi Omega. pp. 48–53. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  5. ^ Talwar, Saundarya (February 17, 2022). "SpaceX Engineer Anna Menon Part of Crew for New Mission Called 'Polaris Dawn'". TheQuint. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Anna Menon". Polaris Program. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Expedition 41 US Spacewalk EVA 28 October 15 Part 2, October 16, 2014, retrieved March 4, 2022
  8. ^ "Anna (Wilhelm) Menon". LinkedIn. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  9. ^ "SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission: Who are the astronauts doing the spacewalk?". Reuters. August 26, 2024.
  10. ^ Wattles, Jackie (August 26, 2024). "Meet the 4-person crew spearheading SpaceX's daring Polaris Dawn mission". CNN. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  11. ^ Davenport, Christian (February 14, 2022). "Jared Isaacman, who led the first all-private astronaut mission to orbit, has commissioned 3 more flights from SpaceX". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  12. ^ "Meet the crew: SpaceX engineer Anna Menon to be on next space mission announced by Jared Isaacman". The Economic Times. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  13. ^ Taveau, Jessica (September 22, 2025). "NASA Selects All-American 2025 Class of Astronaut Candidates". NASA (Press release).
  14. ^ "NASA Astronaut Candidate Anna Menon". NASA. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  15. ^ Wall, Mike (September 23, 2025). "This new NASA astronaut candidate has already been to space". Space.com. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  16. ^ Foust, Jeff (September 22, 2025). "NASA selects new astronaut class". SpaceNews. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
  17. ^ "Anil & Anna". The Knot.
  18. ^ "Who Is Anna Menon? The SpaceX Engineer Part Of Mission Polaris Dawn". Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  19. ^ Petski, Denise (August 3, 2021). "Netflix Greenlights 'Inspiration4' All Civilian Space Mission Docuseries From 'The Last Dance' Team". Deadline Hollywood.
  20. ^ Menon, Anna; Vasek, Keri (June 4, 2024). Kisses from Space. Illustrated by Andy Harkness. Random House Children's Books. ISBN 9780593811146.
  21. ^ Lagatta, Eric (August 23, 2024). "Anna Menon of Polaris Dawn wrote a book for her children. She'll read it to them in orbit". University Wire.

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anna Menon.