It is a giant step for diversity.
NASA plans to land the first person of color on the moon as part of an international space flight program, an agency representative said Friday.
“NEW: @NASA will land the first woman and the * first person of color * on the moon as part of the Artemis program,” NASA Press Secretary Jackie McGuinness posted in a tweet.
The news comes after the announcement in September that the agency will send the first female astronaut to the moon as part of the same program in 2024.
McGuinness told The Post on Friday that NASA had not yet determined who the person of color or the female astronaut would be, or whether she would be the same person.
“There have been no specific crew selections yet,” he said. “Any specific crew assignment will be made closer to launch.”
He added that the mission can now be delayed until 2025 or later.
“The Biden Administration supports the objectives of the Artemis program. However, given the funding levels of the human landing system over the past two years, a 2024 lunar landing target does not seem realistic.
In 2019, NASA announced the Artemis program, which will land the first American on the moon since the Apollo lunar mission in 1972.
The program includes research on trade associations and other economic opportunities related to space travel.
NASA’s goal is to pour this research and this revenue into Mars exploration missions, which are more than 139 million kilometers from Earth than the Moon.