Among nearly 400 individuals ever chosen to explore space on America’s behalf, 10 more NASA astronaut candidates were introduced Monday.
The 10 newest astronaut candidates are: Ben Bailey, Lauren Edgar, Adam Fuhrmann, Cameron Jones, Yuri Kubo, Rebecca Lawler, Anna Menon, Dr. Imelda Muller, Erin Overcash, and Katherine Spies. Seven of the 10 candidates have military experience, including four of the six women, and three have previously worked with NASA.
One of the 10, Anna Menon, an engineer at SpaceX, has already flown to low-Earth orbit. She served as a mission specialist and medical officer on the private Polaris Dawn mission last year, which used a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Along with her crewmate Sarah Gillis, Menon set the record for the highest altitude reached by any woman astronaut. She follows in the footsteps of her husband, Anil Menon, who was selected in NASA’s 2021 astronaut class.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy highlighted the potential of this class, saying: “One of these 10 could actually be one of the first Americans to put their boots on the Mars surface.”
Who is Anna W Menon
Anna Menon was selected as part of NASA’s 2025 astronaut candidate class and reported for duty in September 2025. In 2024, she flew aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, completing nearly 40 research experiments, setting a new female altitude record, and participating in the first commercial spacewalk.
Born in Houston, Menon earned a dual bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Spanish from Texas Christian University in 2008 and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2010. She previously worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Mission Control, supporting medical hardware and software aboard the International Space Station.
Before her selection, Menon spent seven years at SpaceX as a senior engineer, shaping crew operations for Dragon and Starship spacecraft and serving as mission director and crew communicator for multiple SpaceX missions, including Demo-2. She also completed extensive preflight training, earning her parachute wings with the US Air Force Academy, summiting Mount Cotopaxi, and scuba diving.
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Menon is married to NASA astronaut Anil Menon, and the couple has two children. Anil, 45, is of Indian-origin, born to Ukrainian and Indian parents. He was the flight surgeon of SpaceX’s first human space mission.
For the first time, women outnumber men among NASA’s newest astronaut candidates, with six of the 10 being women. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas praised the milestone, noting the Artemis program will send the first woman to the moon.
