NASA astronaut Dr Anil Menon, whose family roots trace to Kerala’s Palakkad district, is set to travel to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz MS-29. The eight-month mission will study challenges of long-duration space travel. Menon, a doctor, engineer and pilot, will fly from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Kerala will have another moment of pride when NASA astronaut Dr. Anil Menon, whose family traces its roots to Ottapalam in Palakkad district, blasts off to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft.

The launch is scheduled for 8.17 p.m. IST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, marking the beginning of an eight-month mission that will conclude with the crew's return to Earth in April next year.

Dr Menon, the son of Shankaran Menon of Ottapalam and Elizabeth Samoylenko of Ukraine, has excelled in every field he has entered, as a physician, mechanical engineer, US Space Force flight surgeon and pilot before earning his place in NASA's astronaut corps.

His first spaceflight is expected to play a key role in research into the medical challenges of long-duration human space travel, findings that will help shape future missions beyond low Earth orbit.