Men may be from Mars, but women will help conquer it by walking on the moon.
The first female astronaut will step foot on the moon by 2024 — where astronauts will test spacecraft for an eventual future mission to Mars, NASA has announced.
The mission — nicknamed “Artemis” after the twin sister of mythological Greek god and spacecraft namesake Apollo — seeks put a man and woman on the lunar surface by 2024 and establish a lunar outpost with a “sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028,” according to information from the space agency.
NASA would use lessons learned setting up the moon outpost for future jaunts to Mars, officials have said.
The probe would be the NASA’s first deep-space mission in nearly 50 years. While a dozen male astronauts have set foot on the moon, no women have made the trek. Sally Ride became the first American woman sent to space in 1983.