Nicole (Aunapu) Mann, a former star of Navy’s women’s soccer team, was one of 18 astronauts selected to form the Artemis Team, NASA announced on Thursday. The Artemis program is intended to get astronauts back to the Moon. 

NASA states the goal for the the Artemis Team, which was announced on Thursday, is to “help pave the way for the next lunar missions including sending the first woman and next man to walk on the lunar surface in 2024.”

Mann was selected to the astronaut program in 2013. She graduated from the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1999. She earned her Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a specialty in Fluid Mechanics in 2001. 

She became a naval pilot after school and has accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours, including 47 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Prior to her decorated career in the cockpit, Mann was a star on the soccer field. She was a four-time First Team All Patriot League honoree. She was also the Defensive of Player of the Year during her junior and senior seasons. She was also an Academic All-American during her time with Navy. 

Mann posts on twitter under the username @AstroDuke for those wishing to follow along during her journey.

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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