SpaceX engineer Anna Menon to be among crew of new space mission

International

pti-PTI

New
York,
Feb
14:
SpaceX
engineer
Anna
Menon
will
be
among
the
crew
of
a
unique
space
mission
announced
on
Monday
by
US
billionaire
Jared
Isaacman,
who
had
commanded
a
human
spaceflight
mission
last
year.

Menon
is
a
Lead
Space
Operations
Engineer
at
SpaceX,
where
she
manages
the
development
of
crew
operations
and
serves
in
mission
control
as
both
a
Mission
Director
and
crew
communicator,
a
SpaceX
release
said.
Isaacman,
the
founder
and
CEO
of
American
payment
processing
company
Shift4,
who
had
commanded
the
Inspiration4
mission,
announced
the
Polaris
Programme,
“a
first-of-its-kind
effort
to
rapidly
advance
human
spaceflight
capabilities,
while
continuing
to
raise
funds
and
awareness
for
important
causes
here
on
Earth.”

The
programme
will
consist
of
up
to
three
human
spaceflight
missions
that
will
demonstrate
new
technologies,
conduct
extensive
research,
and
ultimately
culminate
in
the
first
flight
of
SpaceX’s
Starship
with
humans
on
board.
The
first
mission
is
named
Polaris
Dawn,
which
is
targeted
to
launch
no
earlier
than
the
fourth
quarter
of
2022
from
NASA’s
Kennedy
Space
Center
in
Florida.

The
Polaris
Dawn
mission
has
many
first-time
objectives,
so
the
Polaris
Programme
chose
a
crew
of
experts
who
know
each
other
well
and
have
a
foundation
of
trust
they
can
build
upon
as
they
undergo
the
challenges
of
this
mission.
Menon
is
Mission
Specialist
and
Medical
Officer.

In
addition
to
Isaacman,
the
crew
includes
Menon,
a
veteran
member
of
Isaacman’s
team
Scott
Poteet
and
SpaceX
employee
Sarah
Gillis.
During
her
tenure
at
SpaceX,
Menon
has
led
the
implementation
of
Dragon’s
crew
capabilities,
helped
create
the
crew
communicator
operator
role,
and
developed
critical
operational
responses
to
vehicle
emergencies,
such
as
a
fire
or
cabin
depressurisation.

Anna
served
in
mission
control
during
multiple
cargo
and
crew
Dragon
missions,
including
Demo-2,
Crew-1,
CRS-22,
and
CRS-23.
Prior
to
SpaceX,
she
worked
for
seven
years
at
NASA
as
a
biomedical
flight
controller
for
the
International
Space
Station.
She
is
the
wife
of
Indian-origin
physician
Anil
Menon,
a
lieutenant
colonel
at
the
US
Air
Force,
who
was
selected
by
NASA
in
December
last
year
along
with
nine
others
to
be
astronauts
for
future
missions.

Anil
Menon,
45,
was
born
and
raised
in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota,
to
Ukrainian
and
Indian
immigrants.
He
was
SpaceX’s
first
flight
surgeon,
helping
to
launch
the
company’s
first
humans
to
space
during
NASA’s
SpaceX
Demo-2
mission
and
building
a
medical
organisation
to
support
the
human
system
during
future
missions.
He
previously
served
NASA
as
the
crew
flight
surgeon
for
various
expeditions
taking
astronauts
to
the
International
Space
Station.

SpaceX
said
the
Dragon
mission
will
take
advantage
of
Falcon
9
and
Dragon’s
maximum
performance,
flying
higher
than
any
Dragon
mission
to
date
and
endeavouring
to
reach
the
highest
Earth
orbit
ever
flown.

“Dragon
and
the
Polaris
Dawn
crew
will
spend
up
to
five
days
in
orbit,
during
which
the
crew
will
attempt
the
first-ever
commercial
spacewalk,
conduct
scientific
research
designed
to
advance
both
human
health
on
Earth
and
our
understanding
of
human
health
during
future
long-duration
spaceflights,
and
be
the
first
crew
to
test
Starlink
laser-based
communications
in
space,
providing
valuable
data
for
future
space
communications
systems
necessary
for
missions
to
the
Moon,
Mars,
and
beyond,”
the
company
said.