Mission to prepare ISS for new solar arrays

Menon, who hails from Palakkad in Kerala, is scheduled to undertake three spacewalks in the current mission, PTI reports. In a statement, NASA said the astronaut duo will prepare the orbital laboratory for the future installation of the International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) later this year.

NASA added that once installed, the arrays will provide additional power to support critical station operations, including its safe and controlled deorbit.

VIDEO | Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon conducts his first-ever spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

Menon, who hails from Palakkad in Kerala, is scheduled to undertake three spacewalks beginning August 6 along with fellow astronaut Jessica Meir.

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— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 6, 2026

Research and technology experiments in orbit

Menon will also perform other tasks during his time in space, including ultrasound investigations using augmented reality and artificial intelligence, test technologies to produce intravenous fluids.

Who is Anil Menon?

Menon is an emergency medicine physician and a colonel in the US Space Force who joined NASA as a flight surgeon in 2014. As the deputy crew surgeon for Soyuz missions Soyuz 39 and Soyuz 43, Menon supported four long-duration crew members on the ISS.

NASA shortlisted Menon as an astronaut in December 2021, who reported for duty in January 2022 to complete two years of initial astronaut training as a NASA astronaut candidate.

According to an Indian Express report, Menon also spent a year in India as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, and supported initiatives linked to polio vaccinations.