(Ethete, WY) – Wyoming Indian Schools announced yesterday that NASA astronaut Nicole Mann will be visiting students on September 10/11.
Mann is credited with being the first female Native American astronaut, and is registered with the Wailacki (some spellings have the “c,” others do not) of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. She was the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission on October 5, 2022, where she spent 157 days in orbit and conducted 2 spacewalks.
County 10 confirmed with organizers that Mann will be speaking with students during a couple of assemblies on Tuesday, September 10, which will be followed by a community dinner around 4 PM, and a community Powwow at 5:30 PM, both of which will be at Wyoming Indian High School (WIHS).
The following day she will be spending time in the NASA HUNCH classes with teacher Scott Krassin.
WIHS has been participating in the NASA High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program since 2019.
While on the International Space Station, astronauts are given hygiene kits, that in the past two years students in Mr. Krassin’s class have been sewing as a part of the HUNCH program.
In addition, Mr. Krassin’s students have also been working to design and prototype items to help astronauts live and work in space, which Mann will get to see firsthand during her visit.
You can read more about Mann’s accomplishments here.