Nicole Mann became the first Native American woman to complete a spacewalk.
Mann conducted the spacewalk with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata on Friday. They spent more than 7 hours working on a platform where solar arrays will be installed later this year, NASA said.
"The installation is part of a series of spacewalks to augment the International Space Station’s power channels with new iROSAsn" NASA stated. "Four iROSAs have been installed so far, and two more will be mounted to the platforms installed during this spacewalk in the future."
This was the 258th spacewalk at the International Space Station and the first of 2023.
Mann arrived at the International Space Station in October. She is expected to spend six months in space working aboard the microgravity lab.
Mann is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. She has been a NASA astronaut since June 2013, according to her official NASA biography. She is a Colonel in the Marine Corps, served as a test pilot in the F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet, and deployed twice on aircraft carriers to support combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mann also has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
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