Anna Menon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anna Menon
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| Born |
Anna Wilhelm
December 24, 1985 Houston, Texas, U.S.
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| Education | |
| Occupation | Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX |
| Spouse(s) |
Anil Menon
(m. 2016) |
| Children | 2 |
| Space career | |
| SpaceX Commercial Astronaut | |
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Time in space
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4 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes |
| Missions | Polaris Dawn |
Anna Menon, born on December 24, 1985, is an American engineer. She works for SpaceX as a lead space operations engineer and a mission director. In September 2024, she flew on Polaris Dawn. This was a private space mission run by SpaceX for Jared Isaacman. During the mission, Anna was the medical officer on board. She and Sarah Gillis set a new record for women. They traveled farther from Earth than any woman before them. Before joining SpaceX, Anna worked at NASA for six years. There, she helped manage operations for the International Space Station.
Contents
Anna's Education
Anna Menon studied at Texas Christian University. She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Her subjects were mathematics and Spanish. Later, in 2010, she earned a Master of Science degree. This was in biomedical engineering from Duke University.
Her Career Journey
Working at NASA
Anna Menon worked at NASA for seven years. For six of those years, she was a biomedical flight controller. She helped crews on the International Space Station (ISS). She worked from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. She also led medical operations for Expedition 41. This included spacewalks known as ISS US EVA's 27 and 28.
Joining SpaceX
Anna Menon started working at SpaceX in July 2018. She began as a Space Operations Engineer. In November 2019, she became a Lead Space Operations Engineer. In this role, she helps create plans for astronauts. She makes sure all procedures are ready for their missions. She also worked in the company's mission control. This included the Demo-2 flight.
For Inspiration4, a private spaceflight funded by Jared Isaacman, she was a technical adviser. She helped the families of the all-civilian crew understand spaceflight. After Isaacman returned from space, he chose Anna for his Polaris Dawn mission. On this mission, Anna was the medical officer. She also helped with science experiments during the trip.
Her Family Life
Anna married NASA astronaut Anil Menon on October 15, 2016. Their wedding was in Houston. They have two children together. Both Anna and her husband appeared in a television documentary. It was called Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space. This five-episode show was released on Netflix in September 2021.
See Also
- Polaris program
