MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - An American astronaut and his two Russian counterparts will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft to the International Space Station on Tuesday.
NASA's Anil Menon, accompanied by Russian space agency's Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, will join the Expedition 74 crew advancing scientific research.
Menon, Dubrov, and Kikina will lift off at 10:47 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA said.
After a two-orbit, three-hour trip to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock at 1:56 p.m. to the Prichal module. Shortly afterward, hatches will open between the Soyuz and the orbiting laboratory.
Once aboard, the trio will join NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev.
Menon, Dubrov, and Kikina will spend about eight months aboard the orbital complex as International Space Station Expedition 74/75 crew members before returning to Earth in April 2027. This will be Indian origin asMenon's first spaceflight and the second for both Dubrov and Kikina.
Born to Ukrainian and Indian immigrants, 49-year-old Menon is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force and an emergency medicine physician. He was a flight surgeon at NASA and the medical director at SpaceX before being selected as a candidate for astronaut at NASA.
During his stay on the station, Menon will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth. He will continue research to refine in-space production of semiconductor crystals to enable the large-scale manufacturing of components needed for high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, and improved medical devices.
Menon also will perform ultrasound using augmented reality and artificial intelligence methods that could eliminate the need for medical support from Earth on future space missions. He will be a test subject helping researchers understand how blood flow is affected in space to protect future astronauts. He also will test bioprinting vascular constructs in microgravity to improve understanding of the aging process to advance therapeutic developments.
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