KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — The launch of the Crew-5 mission, scheduled for Wednesday, will bring about a number of important milestones for the Commercial Crew program.

Leading the mission is NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, who will make history as the first Native American woman in space.

“It’s good to celebrate that and communicate that, specifically to a younger generation who perhaps there’s barriers in front of them or used to be barriers and they realize that these are beginning to be broken down,” Mann said in an interview with Spectrum News.

Mann is a registered member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. Among the items she’s taking with her into space are a dreamcatcher from her mother, photos of friends and family and her wedding rings.

“I think that’s important to have that kind of personal connection to folks on Earth,” Mann said. “You’re busy up there. You’re working really hard. It’s a stressful environment. And one thing that I’ve learned is it’s important to take care of yourself as well.

“So, you need to have that time off, that down time to make sure you’re mentally and physically ready to go the next day because the world is counting on you to be efficient up there.”

Mann’s mission to space comes 20 years after the first Native American man, John Herrington, flew to space on STS-113 in November 2002. Coincidentally, that was also the last time NASA flew a Russian cosmonaut to space on an American-built launch vehicle. Cosmonaut Anna Kikina, one of the Crew-5 mission specialists, will restart that tradition as well during the Crew-5 mission.

The road to space

Mann’s path to space began in the U.S. Marine Corps. She became a second lieutenant in 1999 and began flight training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola in 2001. While flying with the Thunderbolts based in South Carolina, Mann was deployed for combat missions supporting both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

After her return from the second deployment, she reported to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. She was a test pilot flying F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet. In total, she flew more than 2,500 hours in 25 aircraft and 47 combat missions.

In 2013, Mann was selected as one of eight new astronauts in the class, alongside Crew-5 pilot Josh Cassada. 

“This legacy of people that have flown jets and then flown to space is quite long. And so, for me, it’s just such a privilege to be a part of that,” Mann said. “Hopefully, I can continue that messaging to the younger generation and hopefully inspire some of those potential fighter pilots and astronauts out there.” 

Mann also wasn’t originally a part of the SpaceX team. She was originally announced in 2018 as part of Boeing’s Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. However, delays in that program eventually resulted in her being reassigned to the Crew-5 mission in 2021. 

She was also one of the group hailed as part of the so-called Artemis cadre of astronauts before NASA later clarified that any current astronaut could qualify for a mission to the Moon as part of the Artemis program. 

She said, operationally for her, there wasn’t a huge difference making the jump from Boeing’s Starliner to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

“Those are similar, whether that be Starliner, Dragon, the International Space Station, Artemis to the Moon,” Mann said. “These are the concepts of living and working together in a group, which are so important toward the mission.”

Mann is one of three astronauts who will fly to space for the first time as part of the Crew-5 mission. NASA and SpaceX are targeting launch from Launch Complex 39A at noon EDT Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center.