A fresh group of astronauts has departed from Earth for the International Space Station (ISS).
Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Koichi Wakata, and Anna Kikina left the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at precisely noon, local time.
Their SpaceX Falcon rocket has positioned them to reach the orbiting outpost in around 29 hours.
Nicole Mann is making history as the first Native American woman to travel to space.
The involvement of cosmonaut Kikina extends the ride-sharing agreement between Russia and the United States.
Despite their disagreements on Ukraine, the two nations have agreed to continue transporting each other’s astronauts into orbit.
“Crew 5”, as Wednesday’s launch crew is referred to in NASA/SpaceX parlance, will temporarily increase the number of humans living above the Earth to 14.
This number consists of the 11 humans who will soon occupy the International Space Station (Crew 5 will join the seven individuals already aboard) plus the three Chinese “taikonauts” who are presently residing on the Tiangong space station.
Crew 5 consists of both inexperienced and highly skilled pilots.
Mann, Cassada, and Kikina have never previously traveled to space. Koichi Wakata has already orbited the Earth four times.
Having already been aboard three space shuttles and a Russian Soyuz capsule, he is now a member of an elite club of astronauts who have flown aboard three distinct crew vehicles.
The most recent one, SpaceX’s Endurance capsule, is under the leadership of Nicole Mann.
After completing her astronaut training in 2015, she waited an excessively long period to make her debut.
She had been allocated to a mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, but due to the vehicle’s delay in entering service, NASA chose to transfer her to Crew 5 to provide her with overdue flight experience.
Mann holds the distinction of being the first Native American female astronaut from NASA. She is registered with the Wailacki Indian Tribes of Round Valley.
Mann is a colonel in the US Marine Corps and has experience piloting a variety of fighting aircraft. She received six medals for her service in the United States military, which included two deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
During her training last month, she told, “I truly hope that our mission will motivate young Native American students to pursue their ambitions and realize that some of those obstacles that exist or used to exist are being broken down.”
Tribes have long alleged societal discrimination as a cause of economic hardship and inadequate education funding. According to the US National Center for Education Statistics, only 27% of Native Americans earned an associate’s degree or higher in 2017, compared to 54% of white students.
Josh Cassada is designated as the pilot of Crew 5. Similarly to Mann, he was transferred from a delayed Boeing Starliner mission.
Anna Kikina is now the sole woman in the cosmonaut corps of the Russian space agency. Her launch makes her the fifth female Russian cosmonaut to reach orbit in a professional capacity.
Four astronauts will spend six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) beginning Wednesday.
Crew 5 will spend their first week receiving a handoff from Crew 4, who will depart for Earth on October 12.
Among the returning astronauts is Samantha Cristoforetti, Europe’s first female International Space Station commander.
