![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FVyYQNlUYAARnj0.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTraining is underway for NASA\u2019s newest class of astronaut candidates at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. The nearly two-year long process began this past September for the four men and six women of Astronaut Group 24.<\/p>\n
One of those \u2018ASCAN\u2019s, as they\u2019re known, is Anna Menon, who previously flew on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission to space. She sat down with NASASpaceflight.com for an interview during her training.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pinched myself when I found out that I got to join this class and get to return to the team here at NASA,\u201d Menon said of her selection to the astronaut corps.<\/p>\n
Prior to her selection, Menon spent seven years as a biomedical flight controller for the International Space Station (ISS) program at NASA. This included leading biomed operations for the Expedition 47\/48 crew in 2016 and overseeing astronaut health during two spacewalks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great having that perspective and bringing that into the work we do now,\u201d Menon said when asked how that background helps her as an astronaut. \u201cI\u2019ve loved being able to see the flight controllers that are now keeping the space station running from the ground and getting to bring all of that background into this new line of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Astronaut health has been in the spotlight recently with the early return of Crew-11 astronauts due to medical reasons. Given her role in monitoring crewmembers on long-duration missions, she says we\u2019ve come a long way in regard to understanding the human body\u2019s reaction to those extended space missions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot that goes into keeping a human healthy and happy and effectively working in that austere environment,\u201d Menon noted. \u201cThere has been a lot learned, but there\u2019s still a lot more to learn, and that kind of points to the value of all of the research that\u2019s going on. There\u2019s a lot that is still to be understood and so the research that\u2019s happening on the International Space Station and then that it is to occur on other flights in the future are all contributing to that body of knowledge to help humans live better in this environment and go further than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Menon is the first person selected to become a NASA astronaut after already earning their commercial astronaut wings. She previously worked to help develop Dragon crew capabilities for SpaceX where she also served as Crew Operations and Resource Engineer (CORE), communicating with crewmembers in space on behalf of flight controllers at SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GY2-9WOXYAALiia.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Astronauts Sarah Gillis (L) and Anna Menon (R) inside Dragon during the Polaris Dawn mission. (Credit: Anna Menon via X)<\/p>\n
She would then go on to fly as part of the Polaris Dawn crew, which included commander and now-NASA administrator Jared Isaacman. She says her spaceflight experience from that mission is not going to replace her current astronaut training.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI would just say that everything\u2019s been additive,\u201d Menon said. \u201cI think that I was really grateful to learn the technical systems of the Dragon spacecraft, to learn how to live and work effectively in the mission that I had the chance to fly, and I think there\u2019s a lot more to learn and to be able to do the missions that NASA has set out for the team here.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if she could use that experience to skip any training, she responded very quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely not, and I shouldn\u2019t,\u201d Menon said. \u201cI have a lot to learn and there is a fantastic team of experts here at NASA that I\u2019m really excited to learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is certainly lots to learn over the course of her candidacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese two years involve everything from preparing to do spacewalks using that big pool here at Johnson Space Center, flying in jets to learn crew resource management, technical systems including the technical systems of the International Space Station, robotics training, and all sorts of other things to really give us this kind of breadth of foundation so that we can be deployed wherever NASA needs ultimately,\u201d Menon said of the training she must complete before becoming an official astronaut and therefore eligible to be assigned to a spaceflight.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jsc2025e075919_altlarge.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The ten astronauts selected as part of NASA\u2019s 24th Astronaut Class. (Credit: Josh Valcarcel \u2013 NASA \u2013 JSC)<\/p>\n
While much of the focus is on the ISS, the orbiting laboratory is set to be deorbited in the next five years. Given this astronaut group still has another year and a half of training, the chances of flying to the station are getting fewer. However, Menon is prepared.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to serve my country and serve NASA in the best of my abilities, and so whatever I am asked to do, I will gladly do,\u201d Menon said. \u201cAnd I want to do it to the best of my ability, so right now, that means learning, working hard, studying hard, and training to be ready to be assigned to whatever mission NASA needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about her takeaways from both supporting missions on the ground and flying aboard Polaris Dawn, she says one of the most important things she\u2019s taking with her over to NASA is the importance of communication between space and ground teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember being in space and feeling so grateful for that bridge, for the person that was helping to connect our team in space to the team on the ground, and then imagining that whole army of people supporting us and making sure that we were safe and that every technical objective could be executed safely and well,\u201d Menon recalled. \u201cAnd so really, it\u2019s that person can serve as kind of that connection between these two teams as they serve to try to execute the group objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n