SpaceX Engineer Anna Menon Part of Crew for New Mission Called 'Polaris Dawn'
Before joining SpaceX, she worked at NASA for the International Space Station, as a biomedical flight controller.
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SpaceX engineer Anna Menon has been chosen to be part of the crew of a new space mission announced by US billionaire Jared Isaacman, her company announced in a press release on Monday, 14 February.
Her job consists of managing the development of crew operations. She is a Mission Specialist and a Medical Officer.
She also serves as a crew communicator for SpaceX.
Before joining SpaceX, she worked at NASA for the International Space Station for seven years, as a biomedical flight controller.
The mission that Menon has been selected for is called Polaris Dawn.
Menon, during her illustrious time at the company, has led the implementation of Dragon's crew capabilities and has also aided in the establishment of the crew communicator operator role.
Additionally, she has developed operational responses to vehicle emergencies, such as cabin depressurisation.
Some of these include Demo-2, Crew-1, CRS-22, and CRS-23.
She is married to Indian-origin physician Anil Menon, who was born and raised in Minnesota to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants.
The mission Polaris Dawn is "targeted to launch no earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022 from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida", according to the press release.
The Polaris Programme chose a crew of experts for the Polaris Dawn Mission, "who know each other well and have a foundation of trust they can build upon as they undergo the challenges of this mission", the Space X press release added.
The crew for the mission, other than Menon and Isaacman, includes Scott Poteet and Sarah Gillis.
The world's first all-private space crew that toured the orbit was led by Isaacman.
Menon has been a long term member of Isaacman's team, and is also Lieutenant Colonel at the US Air Force.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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