NASA previews Anil Menon's Soyuz MS-29 mission to the ISS

NASA will preview astronaut Anil Menon's first spaceflight, a Soyuz MS-29 mission targeted for July 14 that will send him to the International Space Station for an eight-month Expedition 74/75 stay.

The assignment keeps U.S. astronauts flowing through Soyuz crew-rotation channels while the ISS partnership manages long-duration research, station staffing, and cross-provider access to low Earth orbit.

Menon's background adds operational context. He is an emergency medicine physician, aerospace medicine specialist, Air Force lieutenant colonel, former SpaceX flight surgeon, and NASA expedition flight surgeon, so the mission also brings medical operations experience into the station crew mix.

The next checkpoint is the April 29 mission preview and then Soyuz processing toward the July launch target. For the ISS program, the story is continuity: steady crew exchange, research capacity, and international access remain the practical backbone of the low Earth orbit transition.