NASA’s 24th astronaut class has been announced, with a presentation at the JSC. Anna Menon was one of the ten astronaut candidates.
“At the time of her selection, Menon was a senior engineer at SpaceX.” Just over a year ago, while (presumably) employed at SpaceX, she went to orbit as part of the Polaris Dawn mission.
She married Anil Menon in 2016, while they were both working for NASA, with responsibilities related to the health of astronauts on the ISS.
In April 2018, Anil joined SpaceX. About 3 months later, Anna also joined SpaceX. In 2021, Anil rejoined NASA, as an astronaut candidate. And now, Anna has also rejoined NASA, also as an astronaut candidate. Anil has not yet been to space, unlike Anna.
Possible firsts?:
- person to join the astronaut office having already been in outer space
- person to join the astronaut office while already being married to someone already in it
- person to join the astronaut office with a name that is only 2 letters different from that of someone already in it
- person to join the astronaut office who already has her own IMDB page
I wonder if her 1st day back at NASA was exactly 1 year after launching to, or returning from, space. (10th and 15th of September 2024, respectively)
Prior to Anil and Anna, there had already been an astronaut candidate recruited from SpaceX. However, “in August 2018, Kulin became the first NASA astronaut candidate in fifty years to resign prior to completing the initial training program.”