The four members of the SpaceX Crew-5 mission pose for a portrait in their Crew Dragon flight suits at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. From left are, Mission Specialist Anna Kikina from Roscosmos; Pilot Josh Cassada and Commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, both from NASA; and Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The four members of the SpaceX Crew-5 mission pose for a portrait in their Crew Dragon flight suits at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. From left are, Mission Specialist Anna Kikina from Roscosmos; Pilot Josh Cassada and Commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, both from NASA; and Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Photo by: SpaceX

SpaceX

The First Native American Woman Travels into Space with NASA's Crew-5 Mission

By: Discovery

NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 mission is headed to the International Space Agency with 4 astronauts led by Mission Commander Nicole Aunapu Mann.

October 01, 2022

Updated Oct 5, 2022

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is launching a crew of four astronauts on the fifth crew rotation mission to the International Space Station launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, Oct. 5 at noon EDT (rescheduled from Tuesday, October 4 at 12:23 pm ET).

Photo by: James Blair - NASA - JSC

James Blair - NASA - JSC

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 sends astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada of NASA, astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Roscosmos, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the ISS.

With this launch, mission commander, Nicole Aunapu Mann, has become the first Native American woman to travel to space.

Mann told Reuters "I feel very proud. It's important that we celebrate our diversity and really communicate that specifically to the younger generation." Mann is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes.

Photo by: James Blair - NASA - JSC

James Blair - NASA - JSC

Crew-5 will spend roughly a day traveling to the ISS after launch. Once the new crew arrives, the members of the Crew-4 mission currently on the ISS will spend five days handing off duties to the new arrivals.

Once the handoff is complete, the astronauts of NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission will undock from the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida, concluding their long duration stay of around six months on the ISS.

The Crew-5 astronauts will live aboard the International Space Station for the next six months, conducting science experiments in areas including cardiac to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth as well.

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