Anna Menon was selected by NASA to join the 2025 astronaut candidate class. She reported for duty in September 2025. In 2024, Menon flew to space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn. The mission saw a new female altitude record, the first commercial spacewalk, and the completion of approximately 40 research experiments. Menon earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University with a double major in mathematics and Spanish and holds a master’s in biomedical engineering from Duke University. Menon previously worked in Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station. At the time of her selection, Menon was a senior engineer at SpaceX. Courtesy of NASA.