Nicole Aunapu Mann is happily married to her husband, Travis Mann. She has a son born from her blissful marriage.
Astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann is a test pilot for NASA. She is a valued member of the Wailacki of Round Valley Indian Tribes in California who has created history after taking off on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission last week.
Mann is a F/A-18 Hornet pilot who graduated from Stanford University graduate, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, and the U.S. Naval Academy. Similarly, she completed her astronaut training in the year 2015.
The test pilot has over 2,500 flight hours in 25 types of aircraft and 200 carrier landings. She has also flown 47 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In August 2018, she was assigned to Boe-CFT, the first crewed test flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner.
Nicole took off for her first spaceflight on Wednesday, October 5, 2022. Following this, she became the first Native American woman in space. The NASA astronaut was joined by her three crewmates on their 230-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) SpaceX rocket.
According to CNN, Over 200 new scientific investigations will be carried out by Nicole and her team during their five-month stay onboard the floating space laboratory. Their research aims to improve Earthly living and prepare humans for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.
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Quick Facts On Nicole Aunapu Mann
| Real Name | Nicole Aunapu Mann |
| Age | 45 |
| Birthday | June 27, 1977 |
| Parents | Victoria Aunapu, Howard Aunapu |
| Husband | Travis Mann |
| Children | Jack |
Nicole Aunapu Mann Is Married to Travis Mann
Nicole Aunapu Mann is married to her devoted husband, Travis R. Mann. He is proud of Nicole for being the first native woman in space.
It is not known when the pair met; however, they have known each other since their flight school days in 2002. Eventually, the two started dating and turned their love into a beautiful marital bliss. The pair took their vows in 2009 and recently celebrated their 13th anniversary.
Her life partner is currently in his fifties. On the other hand, Nicole turned 45 this year. She was born in 1977, and her birth happened on June 27; she is a Cancer, as per the Zodiac sign.
Nicole’s Husband Serves In The U.S. Navy
Nicole Aunapu Mann’s husband, Travis R. Mann, is an experienced Navy lieutenant commander. He is also a F/A 18 pilot who met Nicole at the flight school in 2002.
Like her husband, Mann is also a colonel in the Marine Corps. According to NASA’s website, she started her military career as a second lieutenant in 1999.
She started flying training two years later and completed two deployments supporting combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. She then received a place as a test pilot, flying F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet.
Mann Shares A Son With Her Spouse
Nicole Aunapu Mann and Travis R. Mann’s first child, a son, was born in 2013. The same year, she was called up by NASA.
After giving birth, Mann took four months off from flying. She claimed that becoming a mother provides an even more incredible rush than flying faster than the speed of sound. Moreover, she has said that becoming a mother is one of the best experiences of her life.
Mann had to wait years before being assigned to a mission after being chosen for NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013. She had an intense 18-month preparation program after being transferred to Crew-5, which included practicing spacewalks underwater and learning Russian to improve communication with her cosmonaut counterparts.
Despite being a working mom, Mann gives plenty of time to her son, who is almost 10 years old. She previously revealed to National Geographic magazine that she and her kid frequently sat outside to see the moon. So she hoped her dear son might be able to witness her moonwalking one day.
Meet Nicole Aunapu Mann’s Proud Parents
Nicole Aunapu Mann is the daughter of Victoria Anunapu and Howard Anunapu.
Her parents are incredibly proud of their daughter’s achievement, as she has created history by becoming the first Native American lady to reach the space. She has not stated much about her parents. However, it is known that she belonged to a family that served in the military for many generations.
In an interview, Mann said that her mother gave her a wooden hoop with thread webbing as a dream catcher when she was a little girl. The item will travel through space with her.
She said: “I do have this dream catcher that my mother gave me long ago,” Mann told NPR. “And that is always just, you know, a little bit of a piece memory; I think of my family back home, something I will keep with me in my crew quarters while I’m on board the space station.”
She Grew Up In Penngrove, California
Although Mann and her son, Travis Mann, reside in Houston, her extended family (as well as her fan club) continues to call Northern California home.
In 1995, she earned her diploma from Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, California. She eventually graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1999.
Nicole graduated from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in 2001 with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering focused on Fluid Mechanics.
Before joining a flight squadron in Virginia, she completed her flight training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. Mann served in two Iraq War deployments before coming home to the US and enrolling in the US Naval Test Pilot School.
Mann was one of eight astronaut candidates chosen by NASA in June 2013 to serve in the 21st astronaut class, which would first focus on space station operations before considering assignments to missions to the moon, near-Earth asteroids, or eventually Mars.
Her Grandfather Emigrated From Estonia
Helmuth Aunapu, Nicole’s grandfather, left Estonia as a young man in the 1920s and finally moved to the U.S. He joined the U.S. Army and participated in World War II as a military engineer, rising to lieutenant colonel.
Her grandad passed away when Nicole Mann’s father, Howard, was just 11 years old; thus, sadly, Nicole Mann never got to meet her grandfather.
Nicole Mann stated to the Estonian daily Postimees in 2020, “Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to meet him, and I do not have much direct idea of our family’s Estonian heritage.”
After she returns from space, Mann said she might travel to Estonia, the nation where her grandfather was born. She said: “I am aware that we have family in Estonia. My older sister has the same enthusiasm for our Estonian heritage. I’m hoping we can travel together” in an interview in 2020.
Nicole Is Proud Of Her Ethnicity
In the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Mann is recognized as a Native American.
She was raised in Northern California and is a registered member of the Wailacki tribe, which is part of the Round Valley post-colonial reserve that includes several Indigenous tribes coerced there in the middle of the 1800s.
As stated in CNN, Mann has said: “A lot of my extended family still lives in that area,” Mann told Indian Country Today in August. “We got together a couple of weeks ago for a family reunion. So it’s really important, I think, for us to continue to create those bonds.”
Her Net Worth In 2022
Nicole Aunapu Mann’s net worth figure is estimated to be in the millions.
Mann has earned her fortune by serving her nation and working as a NASA astronaut. In addition, she has worked for the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Tailhook Association, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Alumni Association, and United States Naval Academy Alumni Association.
According to Business Insider, The government uses a pay scale to set the annual salary of astronauts, who typically start in one of two grades: GS-12 or GS-13. Currently, a GS-12 starts at $65,140 per year, and a GS-13 can earn up to $100,701 per year.
Thus, astronauts like Mann earn between $66,167 and $161,141 per year.
As per NASA.gov, To receive salary, benefits, leave, and other similar military considerations, military astronaut candidates must be assigned to the Johnson Space Center and maintain an active duty status.
Throughout her career, Nicole has been awarded many honors. She has two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. Similarly, she received the Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Achievement in 2017 and was inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame.
Mann, who is a potential candidate to be one of the first women to walk on the moon, hopes that by setting an example, more Native Americans and women may choose to become astronauts in the coming future.
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