HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — For many astronauts like the first indigenous woman in space and Commander Nicole Mann, they dream what that first moment will feel like. "When we get ready to launch, we launch from Kennedy Space Center," Mann shares. "You're sitting on top of the rocket where we're laying on our backs and for a long time, I wondered and imagine what that would feel like. Would I be nervous? Would I be excited? Would i feel like we were ready to go? I say we were definitely ready to go.
SpaceX Crew-5 mission NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata were on hand at Marshall Space Flight Center to meet and greet many of the staff that help supported their mission. "You know, what's amazing is everything that happens that we don't even know about, right," Cassada shares. " There is so much effort here on the ground that just makes it just seem seamless up there from the ride uphill to get to get there to the space station so we can go do our job to all the coordination, all the science."
Along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, the crew launched in October 2022 on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 flight, the fifth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. The crew spent 156.5 days aboard the space station, traveled 66,577,531 miles, and completed 2,512 Earth orbits, splashing down off the coast of Tampa, Florida, on March 11. This was the first spaceflight for Mann, Cassada, and Kikina. It was the fifth flight for Wakata who has now logged a total of 505 days in space and noted that some of the technology used was developed here.
"I was involved in the space station assembly flights, and then a lot of components were built here and tested here (MSFC)," Wakata shares. "It's always great to get back here and then see the people who actually developed it. Now space station is a full stage of utilization, and this Marshall Space Flight center is the core of the space station utilization."
The focus of their mission was science, testing various aspects from light to nutrition. "So, the station is the perfect testbed to demonstrate all kinds of technologies that I needed," Wakata shares. "So, we tested the veggie five experiment. We tested the different kinds of light and also the nutrition system and fertilizer. So, results of these will be fed into this new production system of the food and those are really important to have this good nutrition for the astronauts, but also psychologically, it's good to have the screen in front of you in this space station. there's no, you know, plants and animals other than us. So psychologically, it's also very important."
The crew was also fortunate to see a different view of the Artemis Launch. 'Well, we were up there when Artemus one launched," Cassada shares. "We were really hoping that we'd be going over to the Kennedy Space Center around that time. We weren't we were on the opposite side of the planet, but it was it was really exciting to be up there while that's happening because, you know, the work that we do in low-Earth orbit is really to enable the next generation of spaceflight, you know, the stuff that isn't the science but the living up there. That's the stuff we need to get really good at before we go to deep space and that's the beauty of the international Space Station, is we can test and develop and advance all those technologies because we've got the advantage of of being close to home and having the support, no time delay, you know, able to come home quickly if we needed to."
FOX54 brings you news, weather, and sports from the Tennessee Valley seven nights a week at 9:00PM and Monday-Friday at 5:30PM. See what’s happening from Florence and Athens to Madison and Huntsville; from Decatur and Guntersville to Scottsboro, and all points in between. We cover local high school and college sports, including Alabama A&M, UAH, and UNA, plus SEC and SWAC teams.
Our local weather team of Chief Meteorologist Jordan Dressman and Meteorologist Emily Owen continue to give you your WeatherRate-certified most accurate forecast, plus up-to-the-minute severe weather coverage. Have a weather question? They’ll answer it for you!
FOX54 is also home to The Valley’s Top Teacher, a weekly feature profiling great teacher you nominate and Neighborhood Heroes, spotlighting those nominate for outstanding service in their community.
Want more FOX54?
Get our app for Android and iOS.
We’re always on at FOX54+ on Roku and FireTV.
Click here to meet our team.
FOX54 News on Facebook
FOX54 News on Instagram
FOX54 News on Twitter