Duke grad is a candidate to become NASA astronaut

A Duke University graduate is an astronaut candidate with NASA.

Anna Menon has previously been on a mission with Space X, and now she's in the middle of a two-year training program to prepare her for NASA's mission to the moon.

“I am just thrilled to be here as a part of NASA’s [astronaut candidate] class,” Menon said. “Really, what these first couple years entail is all the foundational training.

“And, after that, they will start assigning us to specific missions.”

Menon said she is learning about space walking, how to fly jets and the International Space Station [ISS].

WRAL News asked Menon how she trains to walk in space.

“There are a lot of great tools that NASA has developed over the years to train for  space walks,” Menon said. “One of them involves a giant pool here at Johnson Space Center [in Houston] called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.”

Menon said she can practice the steps of an entire space walking operation, which can take up to six hours. She has been to outer space before as part of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn, which was a five-day private mission that launched on Sept. 10, 2024. Menon was one of four crew members.

WRAL News asked Menon if her children want to follow in her footsteps.

“We’re really excited to support them and what they’re curious about,” Menon said. “My son currently wants to be a paleontologist and my daughter currently wants to have five different jobs at the same time.”

Other NC astronauts

Zena Cardman is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He just got back from a mission to the ISS.

Christina Koch is an NC State graduate who is scheduled to travel in March to the moon.