THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “I’ll be looking for the Kerala coastline — the backwaters and all the green. One of the things I’m most looking forward to is seeing India from the space station — and sharing that view with everyone back home!”
The excitement is palpable as Col Anil Menon prepares to embark on his first space mission on July 14. A NASA astronaut of Malayali origin, the 49-year-old is set to become the first person of Kerala descent to reach space.
In an interaction with TNIE over phone, Col Anil, whose father is from Ottapalam, Palakkad, and mother from Ukraine, shared his thoughts on the mission.
“We launch in four days, and the excitement is hard to put into words. Training prepares you for the work — nothing quite prepares you for the feeling of being this close. Our crew is ready, and I’m grateful to every person who helped get us here,” he said, adding,
“We have more than eight months of science ahead aboard the International Space Station (ISS), research that helps people on Earth and prepares us to go further. I can’t wait to get started.”
Col Anil exuded confidence about Gp Capt Prasanth Nair being the next Keralite to travel to space. “If I’m the first Malayali to reach space, I’ll be proud to say I won’t be the last. Gp Capt Prasanth ‘Papa’ Nair, who hails from the same town as my family, will be next. Kerala will be well represented up there,” he assured.
Speaking about his Kerala roots, Col Anil explained why the mission would be special for Malayalis. “This journey is personal for me. My father came to America from India, and I carry that heritage with me every step of the way,” he said.
I’ll carry your warmth & wishes, says Col Anil
“To everyone in India, and especially in Kerala: thank you for the warmth and the wishes. I’ll carry them with me to orbit,” he said.
“My father’s journey began in India, and this launch is a continuation of it. The family I come from taught me that a life should serve something larger than yourself.
As a descendant of [eminent jurist] C Sankaran Nair, I’m deeply proud of what he did for India, and I hope to live up to his legacy in my own way. I only wish my great-uncle, Lt Gen K P Candeth, had lived to see this. We talked about this dream many times, and I’ll be thinking of him on launch day,” said Col Anil.
“To the young people of Kerala, I say the door is open. Study hard, stay curious and take care of each other. See you from space.”
A flight surgeon with the US Space Force, Col Anil was chosen by NASA in 2021 to join the astronaut programme. He is scheduled to launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, for an eight-month-long mission to the ISS. He will embark on the mission along with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.
8-month-long mission
Col Anil Menon is scheduled to launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, for an eight-month-long mission to the ISS.
