The First Native American WomanNicole Mann Travels into Space with NASA’s Crew-5 Mission.
With four astronauts under the direction of the Mission Commander, the SpaceX Crew-5 mission of NASA is headed to the International Space Agency.
On the fifth crew rotation mission to the International Space Station, a crew of four astronauts from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, October 4 at 12:23 p.m. Eastern Time on a Falcon 9 rocket.
When SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission for NASA launches from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, Nicole Mann will become the first Native American woman to fly in space. Currently, that liftoff is scheduled for October 4, but Hurricane Ian could delay it a little.
Mann stated to Reuters in August, “I feel very proud. It is essential that we acknowledge and specifically convey our diversity to the younger generation”.
From Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX Crew-5 will launch astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada of NASA, astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Roscosmos.
Nicole Aunapu Mann, the mission commander, will become the first Native American woman to go into space.
After launch, Crew-5 will travel to the ISS for about a day. The Crew-4 mission’s current crew will spend five days delegating responsibilities to the new crew once they arrive.
The astronauts on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will complete their six-month long stay on the ISS by undocking from the space station and splashing down off the coast of Florida.
For the next six months, the Crew-5 astronauts will live on the International Space Station and conduct cardiac-related science experiments to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit Earth life.
Native Americans’ contributions to NASA have also been highlighted in recent years. Mary G. Ross, a Cherokee Nation member who worked as a mathematician and engineer for the Mars and Venus missions, is one example. John Bennet Herrington, a Chickasaw Nation member and NASA astronaut, became the first Native American to leave Earth in 2002.
Mann has stressed that diversity in space is beneficial because it broadens the scope of space exploration.”Our mission on board the International Space Station of developing this technology and research to benefit all of humanity is really what brings us together,” Mann told ABC News (opens in new tab) in August. “We are coming together as a human race”.
