Mann, a Marine Corps veteran, is heading the SpaceX expedition as mission commander.
SpaceX launch a crewed mission to theInternational Space Station ( ISS)on Wednesday . Heading the expedition as missionary station commanding officer is Nicole Mann — the first aboriginal American woman to go to space .
Mann is a member of the Wailacki tribe of the Round Valley Indian Tribes . Before she became an astronaut , she spend several years as a archetype in the Marine Corps . Mann ’s milestone moment comes 20 years after John Harrington became the first Native American Isle of Man in distance in 2002 .
" [ I hope it ] will animate young Native American fry to follow their dreams and make that some of those roadblock that are there or used to be there are being broken down , " Mann told theBBC . " Anytime we are able-bodied to do something that is a first , or was n’t done in the past times , it ’s so significant they have these opportunities . "
NASA
The Crew-5 charge aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched from NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center . Three crew members will accompany Mann on the mission , Josh Cassada , Anna Kikina and Koichi Wakata .
The team is no stranger to historical firsts . In 2000 , Wakata flew on STS-92 , and became the first Japanese spaceman to participate in the assembly of the ISS . While Kikina , on the other handwriting , is the sole distaff spaceman on dynamic duty for the Russian distance agency Roscosmos . She ’s also the first Russian to fly onboard an American spacecraft since the country invaded Ukraine in February .
All four are go to the ISS for a six - month delegation . Once they arrive , the squad plans to conduct more than 200 experiments , include spacewalks , growing tomato and 3-D - printing human tissue . Quite the spectrum .
spaceman are typically told they can land a limited number of personal items with them on their journey . For Mann , this include her hymeneals ringing and family photos as well as a special reminder of her inheritance . The mission commandant is tamp down a special dreamcatcher that her female parent gave her when she was a child .
Crew-5 ’s first week at the ISS will be spent getting caught up to speed with Crew-4 , who will make their take to Earth on October 12 .
Speaking of infinite , there ’s been no dearth of news program from the expectant beyond of late . The Hubble and James Webb telescopescontinueto snapstunningshotsat a pace that could rival Instagram ’s most popular influencers .
NASA plans to keep the ISS runninguntil 2031 .
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Here are allthe right stargazing eventsthat you could get out and see this calendar month or you could persist in astream the northern lightsfrom home base . If you ’re just getting started , check out ourguide to astronomy for beginnersoreasy stargazing road trips from big US cities .
