Overview
A NASA astronaut preparing for a demanding eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station has said his upcoming flight will include a scientific test aimed at exploring one of space research’s most enduring questions: whether life can survive beyond Earth. Dr. Anil Menon, a physician and U.S. Space Force colonel, is scheduled to launch next month on Soyuz MS-29, where his primary assignment will be to study the physical effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. But Menon also confirmed that the mission will carry an additional experiment focused on the possibility of microbiological life surviving in open space.
The Experiment Aimed at Detecting Signs of Life
Speaking to Newsweek, Menon said the test will examine whether any bacteria can endure conditions on the exterior of the ISS during spacewalks. “What we’re looking to see is if there is any bacteria that can survive on the external side of the space station,” he said. The experiment is designed to assess how biological material responds to the harsh environment of space, where it faces intense cosmic radiation, vacuum exposure and extreme temperature swings.
Menon said the work builds on earlier efforts, but with a more rigorous scientific approach. “Past reports made us think perhaps it’s possible, but it wasn’t clear if we had a really good control, like we might have potentially contaminated it,” he explained. “So I think we’re going back. We’re going to do a good job of having a very controlled experiment and that’ll be some more exciting science to follow in terms of just other things living in space.”
Human Spaceflight Remains the Main Mission
Despite the attention surrounding the life-detection test, Menon emphasized that his core assignment is medical and physiological research. As a doctor and flight surgeon, he said he is especially interested in becoming part of the science himself as he experiences the effects of microgravity, radiation exposure and the isolation of orbit firsthand.
“I am most excited about the opportunity to just be in space and experience the changes that happen to the human body up there,” Menon told Newsweek. He described the mission as an unusual but valuable role reversal in which “the doctor becoming the patient.” Having spent much of his career studying health, disease and space medicine, Menon said this flight offers a rare chance to see those lessons play out in real time.
Broader Scientific and Public Interest
The planned experiment comes at a time of renewed public interest in unexplained aerial phenomena and government transparency. Menon said he intends to share the results of the space-based tests publicly and joked that, given the U.S. government’s declassification of certain UFO sightings, he would not hesitate to report anything unusual. “Now that it’s declassified, I could totally tell you if I encounter them,” he said. “I give you that solemn promise.” Still, he stressed that the project is not a hunt for extraterrestrials in the popular sense, but a controlled biological study with implications for astrobiology and future missions.
In practical terms, the results could help scientists better understand how life might persist in orbit—or beyond—and improve contamination controls for future experiments. For NASA and its international partners, the work reinforces a broader scientific goal: determining whether Earth is truly alone in the universe, or whether even the most hostile environments may still harbor life.
