Nicole Mann has made history as the first Native American woman to travel to space, commanding a four-member crew on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 5.
Astronaut Nicole Mann departs the crew area to head to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA on October 5. (Photo: Reuters).
Nicole Mann, 45, a veteran fighter pilot, has made history by becoming not only the first Native American woman to explore space but also the first woman to command the Crew Dragon spacecraft, according to Guardian.
She is a member of the Wailacki tribe from the Round Valley Indian Tribes in California. Previously, the only Native American to have traveled to space was John Herrington, who completed a mission in 2002.
“I feel very proud,” Mann said. “It’s important for us to honor our diversity and truly convey that to the younger generation.”
The Crew 5 mission, which took place on October 5, included Russian astronaut Anna Kikina, American astronaut Josh Cassada, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft named Endurance launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on October 5. (Photo: Reuters)
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Endurance spacecraft was launched as scheduled on the afternoon of October 5 (local time) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Crew 5 team is expected to arrive at the ISS after 29 hours, around the evening of October 6, to begin a 150-day scientific mission.
The event on October 5 marks NASA’s fifth official ISS crew using SpaceX vehicles since the company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, began transporting American astronauts in May 2020.
The Crew-5 mission has also drawn attention due to astronaut Kikina. She is the only female astronaut currently on a mission for the Russian space agency Roscosmos and is the first Russian to fly on a spacecraft launched from American soil in two decades, according to Reuters.
Kikina is the fifth Russian woman to travel to space.
The Crew-5 team will join the seven-member crew currently on the ISS, which includes Crew-4 comprising three Americans and one American citizen, along with two Russians and one NASA astronaut who flew on a Soyuz mission.
