State celebrates Kerala-origin NASA astronaut's journey to ISS

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 14 (PTI) People of the state celebrated and felt proud as Kerala-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon flew to ISS on Tuesday. He is the great-grandson of former Indian National Congress chief Sir C Sankaran Nair. Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar congratulated Menon, whose roots lie in the Ottapalam area of Palakkad district. In a Facebook post, Arlekar said that he was fortunate to have visited Menon's ancestral home last year to pay tributes to Sir Nair. "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to Anil Menon, the pride of Kerala, in his historic space odyssey. I have had the fortune of visiting his ancestral home, Chettur House at Ottappalam, a year back, to pay tributes to Anil Menon’s great-grandfather, late Sir C Sankaran Nair," he said. Menon took off for the International Space Station (ISS) onboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft as part of Expedition 74. Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Saturday had congratulated Menon on his achievement and had termed his journey to the ISS as a "truly historic milestone" for the state. PTI HMP ADB