10/07/2022
Nicole Mann made history this week as the first Native American woman to travel to space -- 20 years after John Herrington became the first Native American man in space. The 45-year-old Marine Colonel launched into space on Wednesday on the SpaceX Falcon rocket and has now boarded the International Space Station where she will serve as Expedition 68 flight engineer for a six-month mission. Mann, who has a master's in engineering from Stanford and is a Marine Corps pilot, is a member of the Wailaki of the Round Valley Indian tribes. She says that she hopes her mission will encourage young people to pursue their dreams: "If you don't go after a dream or a goal and if you don't try, you're never going to make it. You know, pursue that topic in school, ask for help, meet people that have done that job to learn more about it. You'll grow so much as a child into an adult, and your interests will vary quite a bit. And so it's exciting to take this opportunity to just chase down all of those dreams and never discount yourself."
To introduce kids to more pioneering female astronauts, we recommend the picture books "Mae Jemison: Little People, Big Dreams" for ages 5 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/mae-jemison-little-people), "The Astronaut With A Song For The Stars" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-astronaut-with-a-song-for-the-stars), "To The Stars! The First American Woman to Walk In Space" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/to-the-stars), and the chapter book "She Persisted: Sally Ride" for ages 6 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/she-persisted-sally-ride)
For older kids, we recommend the activity book "Gutsy Girls Go For Science: Astronauts" for ages 8 to 11 (https://www.amightygirl.com/gutsy-girls-astronauts), the graphic novel "Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier" for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/astronauts-women-on-the-final-frontier), and “Women In Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Ground-Breaking Adventures” for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-space)
LEGO has also recently released a new Space Shuttle Adventure Set with a female astronaut as its central character for ages 8 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/lego-space-shuttle-adventure -- and a new DUPLO set with a female astronaut for ages 2 to 5 (https://www.amightygirl.com/duplo-space-shuttle-mission)
To inspire the space-loving Mighty Girls in your life, you can find more books about mighty women of space and space-themed toys in our blog post "Reach for the Stars!" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=16848
For more stories about Native American and & Indigenous girls and women, visit our blog post "50 Children's Books Celebrating Native American and Indigenous Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10365
Thanks to Southern Poverty Law Center for sharing this image!
