Thiruvananthapuram:
As a NASA astronaut of Indian origin, Dr Anil Menon, prepares to blast off to the International Space Station on July 15 aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, a remarkable story is unfolding in Kerala. A single district in God’s Own Country, Palakkad, can now proudly claim a connection to three astronauts.
One among them is Anna Menon, the pioneering private astronaut who flew on the historic Polaris Dawn mission. Another is Dr Anil Menon, now set to begin his first journey into space. And the third is Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of India’s Gaganyaan astronaut-designates who was originally part of preparations for the Axiom-4 mission and remains among India’s most recognised future astronauts.
For Kerala, and particularly for Palakkad district, it is an extraordinary contribution to human spaceflight. Malayalees are celebrating it to no end and also highlight that ISRO was also born in the fishing village of Thumba in Kerala.
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