Next month Nasa will send a new crew into space. And for the first time there will be a Native American woman aboard.

Astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann, of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, will be mission commander – responsible for all phases of flight.

I think it’s important that we communicate this to our community, so that other Native kids… realise that some of those barriers that used to be there are really starting to get broken down,” she told newspaper Indian Country Today.

Ms Mann says that in her allocated 3.3 lb (1.4kg) for personal items she will take “a dreamcatcher that my mother gave me when I was very young”.

She is one of eight members of the 21st Nasa astronaut class, formed for space station operations and potential future assignments to the Moon and Mars.

Source: BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62581401