Nicole Victoria Aunapu Mann
Nicole Victoria Aunapu Mann is a United States Marine Corps colonel, test pilot, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She is one of the most visible Artemis-era astronauts because her first mission combined command, Indigenous representation, and ISS work.
- Born
- June 27, 1977
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Petaluma, California,United States
Flights
1
Spacewalks
2
EVA time
14 hours, 2 minutes
In space
157 days, 10 hours, 1 minute
Bio
Mann graduated from the United States Naval Academy and Stanford University, then became a Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot and test pilot. Her military career included combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and aircraft test work before NASA selected her in 2013.
She was originally assigned to Boeing's crewed Starliner test flight, but NASA later reassigned her to command SpaceX Crew-5. That made her the first woman to command a NASA Commercial Crew launch.
Crew-5 launched in 2022 and Mann served aboard the ISS during 68. She became the first Native American woman in space and later the first Native American woman to perform a spacewalk, completing EVAs with Koichi Wakata.