Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon completes his 4th spacewalk at the International Space Station

30 October 2026 · English InternationalScience & Technology

Topics: International, Science, Technology & Indices · 30 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon, with Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), completed a 7-hour 11-minute spacewalk (EVA) at the International Space Station (ISS) on 29 Oct 2026 (US time; early hours of 30 Oct IST), installing the station's 7th IROSA (roll-out solar array); the 8th and final one is planned for a 5 Nov spacewalk. It was Menon's 4th career spacewalk; he has now logged 26 h 31 min of spacewalking on this mission. It was the 100th US spacewalk from the ISS without a Space Shuttle docked, and Kutryk's first. Menon reached the ISS on 14 July 2026 aboard Russia's 'Soyuz MS-29' from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Key facts

Background

• India in space: Rakesh Sharma – first Indian in space; flew Soviet 'Soyuz T-11' to the 'Salyut 7' station on 3 Apr 1984 (Interkosmos programme). Asked by Indira Gandhi how India looked, he replied 'Saare Jahan Se Achha'.
• Indian-origin astronauts: Kalpana Chawla (Karnal, Haryana) – first India-born woman in space; STS-87 Columbia (1997); died in the Columbia disaster (STS-107) on 1 Feb 2003. Sunita Williams – 9 spacewalks. Raja Chari – NASA astronaut (father from Telangana).
• Axiom-4 (Ax-4): Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla lifted off on 25 June 2025 on SpaceX Falcon 9 / Dragon and became the first Indian to visit the ISS – the second Indian in space, 41 years after Rakesh Sharma.
• Gaganyaan: India's human spaceflight programme (ISRO). On 27 Feb 2024 at VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, four astronaut-designates were named – Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla (all IAF).
• Science: a spacewalk (EVA – Extra-Vehicular Activity) is work done outside a spacecraft in a pressurised suit. The first spacewalk was by Alexei Leonov (USSR) on 18 Mar 1965.

Tamil Nadu link: human-rating tests of Gaganyaan engines are done at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tirunelveli district.

Source: Space.com, 29 Oct 2026; NASA news release, 14 July 2026; Khaleej Times, 15 July 2026

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