SpaceX engineer Anna Menon to be on next mission

New York: SpaceX engineer Anna Menon will be among the crew of a unique space mission announced by US billionaire Jared Isaacman, who last year led the world's first all-private space crew into orbit. Menon, the wife of Indian-origin physician Anil Menon, is a Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, where she manages the development of crew operations and serves in mission control as both a Mission Director and crew communicator, SpaceX release said on Monday.

Menon is a Mission Specialist and Medical Officer. In addition to Isaacman, the founder and CEO of American payment processing company Shift4, who had commanded the Inspiration4 mission, the crew includes Menon, a veteran member of Isaacman's team Scott Poteet and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis.

During her tenure at SpaceX, Menon has led the implementation of Dragon's crew capabilities, helped create the crew communicator operator role, and developed critical operational responses to vehicle emergencies, such as a fire or cabin depressurisation.

Prior to SpaceX, she worked for seven years at NASA as a biomedical flight controller for the International Space Station. She is a Lieutenant Colonel at the US Air Force, who was selected by NASA in December last year along with nine others to be astronauts for future missions.