Washington, Aug 7
NASA astronaut Anil Menon, the first person of Kerala origin to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), achieved another milestone on Friday by successfully completing his first spacewalk outside the orbiting laboratory.
Menon, 49, ventured outside the ISS alongside veteran NASA astronaut Jessica Meir for a mission aimed at preparing the station’s power system for the installation of additional solar arrays.
The two astronauts concluded the spacewalk at 3 pm EDT after spending six hours and 27 minutes outside the space station, NASA said.
During the operation, Menon and Meir worked on the station’s 3B power channel, assembling and preparing a modification kit required for the future installation of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays, known as IROSA.
The additional solar arrays are designed to strengthen the ISS power-generation system and provide electricity for its scientific equipment and other critical systems. The upgrades are also expected to support operations associated with the eventual safe and controlled deorbit of the space station.
The astronauts successfully completed the primary objectives assigned for the mission. While Friday’s operation marked Menon’s maiden spacewalk, it was Meir’s sixth excursion outside the ISS, adding to her extensive experience in extravehicular activities.
Menon, an emergency medicine physician and colonel in the US Space Force, was born in Minneapolis to Indian and Ukrainian immigrant parents.
His Kerala roots trace back to Ottapalam in Palakkad district, where his father, K.P. Shankaran Menon, hails from. His mother, Elizabeth Samoylenko, emigrated from Ukraine to the United States.
Menon’s first spacewalk marks another significant chapter in his space career and comes after he became the first astronaut of Kerala heritage to reach the International Space Station.
