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Lt. Col. Nicole Mann, Academic All-America® Hall of Fame Class of 2019
CSC Academic All-America® Hall of Famer
Lt. Col. Nicole Aunapu Mann is the Mission Commander of NASA’s upcoming SpaceX Crew-5 mission with four astronauts going to the International Space Station. The launch is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 5 at Noon Eastern. Mann was inducted into the AAAHOF in 2019 and was an All-Region and All-Conference soccer standout at Navy where she earned 1997 and 1998 First Team Academic All-America® honors as a junior and senior. Follow the NASA events at
https://www.nasa.gov/live.
A member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in California, Mann is the first Native American woman to orbit the world. (Retired NASA astronaut John Herrington of the Chickasaw Nation became the first Native American in space in 2002.)
Mann (second from right above), is pictured with the SpaceX Crew-5 team: NASA's Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese spaceflyer Koichi Wakata and cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
UPDATE: USA Today story on Mann (Oct. 6):
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann becomes first Native American woman in space, hoping to inspire future generatiions.
More links:
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NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 Launch Readiness Review Complete
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SpaceX still on track to launch Crew-5 astronaut mission for NASA on Oct. 5