NASA Astronaut Anil Menon Reaches Space After Four Rejections and Years of Perseverance

“Most unlikely astronaut” is NASA’s Anil Menon, who is set to fly to the International Space Station on July 14, 2026, capping a long and winding journey many thought he’d never make.

The Long Road to Space

For years Menon worked relentlessly towards his dream but endured a series of crushing setbacks. He applied to NASA’s astronaut programme four times and made it to the final round each time but was rejected. But by his late 30s, the cumulative effect of all those rejections started to weigh him down. At that point in time, I pretty much gave up on being an astronaut," he candidly admitted.

Instead, he resolved to spend his life helping others who travelled in space. This “giving up” phase was to become the springboard of his success. He started with SpaceX as their first flight surgeon and contributed to building their medical programme and supporting human missions. It was this role, along with his years of experience as an emergency room physician, military officer and wilderness medicine expert, that ultimately gave NASA the unique profile it was seeking.

Why They Call Him “Improbable”

Menon’s story is unusual in the astronaut corps in that it was not a straight academic line. It was a career built in the most difficult places in the world:

• Frontline Medicine: He was a first responder to the 2010 Haiti earthquake and 2015 Nepal earthquake.

• Extreme Environments: He has worked with the Himalayan Rescue Association treating climbers on Mount Everest and served in Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force.

• A Family of “Space” Folks: In a rare twist, his wife Anna Menon was selected as a NASA astronaut shortly after he was.

When he finally blasted off aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft this July, he was not just a mission participant; he was a reminder that some of the best paths to our biggest dreams are the ones we take when we stop forcing the outcome and start focusing on the work in front of us. Now he’s on an eight-month mission studying everything from semiconductor manufacturing to how blood circulates in microgravity.