Anna Menon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Menon in 2025 | |
| Born | Anna Wilhelm (1985-12-24)December 24, 1985 (age 39) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Space career | |
| SpaceX commercial astronaut NASA astronaut candidate | |
Previous occupation | Lead Space Operations Engineer atSpaceX |
Time in space | 4 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes |
| Selection | NASA Group 24 (2025) |
| Missions | Polaris Dawn |
Anna Menon (néeWilhelm; born December 24, 1985) is an American engineer andNASAastronaut candidate, formerly employed bySpaceX as lead space operations and a mission director. She flew onPolaris Dawn, aprivate human spaceflight mission operated by SpaceX on behalf ofJared Isaacman. During the September 2024 mission, she served as the onboard medical officer and, along withSarah Gillis, set the record for women traveling farthest from Earth. She was selected in September 2025 as a member ofNASA 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.
Menon graduated fromTexas Christian University in 2008 with aBachelor of Science degree inmathematics andSpanish.[1][2] She went on to earn aMaster of Science degree inbiomedical engineering fromDuke University in 2010.[3]
Menon was also a member of theIota Lambda chapter ofAlpha Chi Omega sorority at Texas Christian University.[4]
Menon worked at NASA for seven years, and for six of those years she served as a biomedical flight controller for theInternational Space Station, assisting ISS crews from NASA'sJohnson Space Center inHouston, Texas, and leadingbiomedical operations forExpedition 41[5][6] includingISS US EVA's 27 and 28.[7]
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 theDemo-2 flight. DuringInspiration4, aprivate spaceflight funded by billionaireJared 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 hisPolaris 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]
Menon was selected in September 2025 as a member ofNASA 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]
Anna marriedAnil 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-episodetelevision documentary entitledCountdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, released onNetflix 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]
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