By Aazam
October 12, 2022
An American astronaut has become the first Native American woman to go into space following a NASA launch on Wednesday
Marine Colonel Nicole Mann, 45, is one of four astronauts who took off from Florida in the afternoon for the International Space Station
The SpaceX Falcon rocket put them on their way to capture the orbiting outpost in about 29 hours' time
According to the US National Center for Education Statistics, in 2017, only 27% of Native Americans earned an associate degree higher than 54% of white students
After completing his astronaut training in 2015, Colonel Mann had to wait to make his space debut
He added that "I also have a special Dreamcatcher that my mom gave me that would be another little piece of my family to take with me
Col. Mann, Mr. Kasada and Ms. Kikina have never been to space before, Mr. Wakata of Japan is a highly experienced traveler\has already orbited four times
Having previously flown atop three space shuttles and a Russian Soyuz capsule, he now joins a select group of astronauts
His first week will be spent shaking hands with Crew 4, which will then depart for Earth on October 12
The returning astronauts include Samantha Cristoforetti, Europe's first female commander of the International Space Station