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K-State Today

April 24, 2024

Meet Commander Nicole Mann: the First Native American woman in space

Submitted by Nick Divilbiss

Learn from Commander Nicole Mann, the first Indigenous woman in space, during a webinar from 1:45-3 p.m. Monday, April 29, in the Women in Engineering Conference Room in the Fiedler Learning Commons, Room 1093 of Fiedler Hall.

Mann is a colonel in the United States Marine Corps and a former combat fighter pilot who, in 2022, became the first Indigenous woman to visit space when she was selected to serve as the commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 Mission aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endurance. She lived and worked aboard the International Space Station for nearly six months as part of Expedition 68. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering. She is a member of Tau Beta Pi, and she is registered with the Wallacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes.

This webinar is part of the series "A Sense of Place: Pacific Northwest — Indigenous Perspectives on Earth and Sky," a team effort of the Indigenous Education Institute, San Juan Island National Historical Park, the Madrona Institute and NASA HEAT.