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Nicole Mann Becomes First Native American Woman In Space

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The SpaceX Falcon rocket with four crew members took off from Florida to enter the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday. Marine Colonel Nicole Mann, 45, one of the astronauts, became the first Native American woman in space. Nicole Mann is heading the mission as its commander.

Col Nicole Mann said that she wished the mission would inspire future generations of Native Americans.

She said, “I hope it will inspire young Native American children to follow their dreams and realize that some of those barriers that are there or used to be there are being broken down.” Adding that the natives have opportunities to take initiative, she said, “Anytime we can do something that is a first or wasn’t done in the past, it’s so important. They have these opportunities.”

As per the US National Centre for Education Statistics, Native American tribes have long faced societal discrimination. The discrimination has led to economic hardship, and school education is not funded enough. In 2017, only 27% of Native Americans attained an associate degree or higher, compared to 54% of white students.

Nicole Mann’s Journey

Belonging to the Wailacki tribe of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, she is a Marine Corps pilot and is recruited by NASA as an astronaut. Her milestone achievement occurred 20 years after John Herrington became the first Native American man to walk in space, in 2002.

Mann has experience flying diverse aircraft extensively for the US Marine Corps. Her career is marked by six medals, which she was awarded for her service. She was also deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She completed her astronaut training in 2015 but had to wait to make her space debut.

She had originally been slated for a voyage in Boeing’s Starliner capsule, but because it was so far behind schedule, Nasa opted to pull her over to “Crew 5,”  as the quartet is referred to in Nasa/SpaceX jargon.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with Crew-5, a NASA Commercial Crew Program flight, was launched from Kennedy Space Center. The other onboard members include Josh Cassada, Anna Kikina, and Koichi Wakata, however, it will increase to 14 temporarily. The six-month mission includes conducting more than 200 experiments, spacewalks, and 3D-printing human tissue.

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