Nicole "Duke" Victoria Aunapu Mann (born June 27, 1977) is an American test pilot and
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
astronaut. She is an
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...
pilot, and a graduate of the
US Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...
,
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and the US Naval Test Pilot School. She has over 2,500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft, 200 carrier landings, and has flown 47 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mann completed astronaut training in 2015 and was assigned in August 2018 to
Boe-CFT
Boeing Crew Flight Test (Boe CFT) will be the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner and the third orbital flight test of the Starliner overall after the two uncrewed flight tests, OFT-1 and OFT-2. Though the launch date for the mission ...
, the first crewed test flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, but subsequently reassigned to the SpaceX Crew-5, becoming the first female commander of a NASA Commercial Crew Program launch.
Her first spaceflight launched in October 2022 and made her the first Native American woman in space.
Early life, background, and education
Nicole Victoria Aunapu Mann was born on June 27, 1977, to Howard and Victoria Aunapu and grew up in
Penngrove, California
Penngrove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, United States, situated between the cities of Petaluma and Cotati, at the foot of the western flank of Sonoma Mountain. It is part of the North Bay subregion of the Sa ...
. Her grandfather Helmuth Aunapu emigrated from
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
in the 1920s and later served as an engineer in the US armed forces. Of
Wailaki
The Eel River Athabaskans include the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone (Sinkine) groups of Native Americans that traditionally live in present-day Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties on or near the Eel River and Van Duzen River o ...
heritage, she is an enrolled member of the
Round Valley Indian Tribes
The Round Valley Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation lying primarily in northern Mendocino County, California, United States. A small part of it extends northward into southern Trinity County. The total land area, inc ...
.
Mann graduated in 1995 from
Rancho Cotate High School
Rancho Cotate High School is a four-year comprehensive high school in Rohnert Park, California. It is located at 5450 Snyder Lane, adjacent to the campus of Sonoma State University. Students have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of s ...
US Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...
and graduated in 1999 with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
. She played for the
Navy Midshipmen
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.defender, scoring one goal and recording four assists in 75 appearances. After commissioning in the US Marine Corps, she attended graduate school at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, where she received a
Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in
fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them.
It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...
.
Military career
After graduate school, Mann attended The Basic School and began flight training at
NAS Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...
. She was awarded her
Naval Aviator
Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...
wings in 2002 and completed training for the
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...
VMFA-251
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 (VMFA-251) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Known as the "Thunderbolts", the squadron was deactivated on 23 April 2020. If current plans hold, the squadron is to be re-activated by 2025 as ...
at
MCAS Beaufort
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort or MCAS Beaufort is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) air base located northwest of the central business district of Beaufort, a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. About 4,700 personnel s ...
and deployed twice on the
with CVW-1 in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
and
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...
. She was a member of Class 135 at the US Naval Test Pilot School and served as an F/A-18 Test Pilot in VX-23 at NAS Patuxent River. At the time of her selection as an astronaut candidate, she was Joint Mission Planning System Expeditionary Integrated Product Team Lead at PMA-281.
NASA career
In 2013, Mann was selected as one of the eight members of
NASA Astronaut Group 21
In 2011 NASA opened applications for Astronaut Group 21. The team was announced in June 2013 after a year and a half long search. With four men and four women, the class of 2013 had the highest percentage of female finalists. According to NASA a ...
. She completed her training in 2015 and has since served as a T-38 Talon Safety and Training Officer and was the Assistant to the Chief of Exploration. She worked on development of the
Orion spacecraft
Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a Reusable spacecraft, partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed ...
,
Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
, and the Exploration Ground Systems. In August 2018 she was assigned to
Boe-CFT
Boeing Crew Flight Test (Boe CFT) will be the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner and the third orbital flight test of the Starliner overall after the two uncrewed flight tests, OFT-1 and OFT-2. Though the launch date for the mission ...
, the first crewed test flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. However, in October 2021 Mann was moved to fly on SpaceX's Crew-5 mission as the Spacecraft Commander, scheduled to fly to the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
on September 29, 2022, later rescheduled to October 5. She planned to take a dreamcatcher her mother gave her when she was very young to space. The crew will live on the International Space Station for six months.
Mann is also in training for the international
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
program, and is a contender to be the
first woman on the Moon
Women have flown and worked in outer space since almost the beginning of human spaceflight. A considerable number of women from a range of countries have worked in space, though overall women are still significantly less often chosen to g ...
as part of the crewed lunar landing currently scheduled for 2025.
Personal life
Mann is married to Travis R. Mann, with whom she has a son. In an interview with ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' in December 2020, she said she and her son often sit outside looking at the moon, and "Hopefully someday, he'll be able to watch Mom fly by and walk on the moon."
Awards
As a student at the Naval Academy, Mann played soccer and was an Academic All American. She was a Trident Scholar and a Distinguished Graduate. During her military career, she received two
Air Medals
The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.
Criteria
The Air Medal was establish ...
Tailhook Association
The Tailhook Association is a U.S.-based non-profit fraternal organization supporting the interests of sea-based aviation, with emphasis on aircraft carriers. The word tailhook refers to the hook underneath the tail of the aircraft that catches the ...
, the US Naval Test Pilot School Alumni Association, and the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association, and received the Leroy Grumman "Best Paper" Award at the East Coast Society of Experimental Test Pilots Symposium.