NASA lands the first person of color on the surface of the moon

Steve Jurchick, Acting Director of the US Space Agency, said NASA will land the first person of color, as well as the first woman on the moon, as part of the Artemis program.

The Biden administration has just submitted a $ 24.7 billion budget proposal to Congress that outlines estimated spending priorities for fiscal year 2022. The proposed budget includes an increase in funding for NASA, which will support the Mars sample return mission, climate science and the Artemis program. In one CommunicateActing Director Steve Gurchik also revealed that the agency will do so He brought the first person of color to the moon.

Two years ago, under President Trump, NASA did commit “Earth the first lady On the surface of the moon in five years’. So far, only a dozen people have walked on the moon – all Americans and all white men.

After this new announcement, Steve Jurczyk set a goal “In line with President Biden’s commitment.” Aims to “A holistic approach to promoting justice for all”.

This new funding request tells us more about the Biden administration’s general science goals. In the coming months, the president is expected to issue a full budget that includes a more detailed plan for these expenditures.

Artemis program where are we?

Regarding the Artemis program, President Trump’s administration had set a new human landing on the moon by 2024. For its part, the Biden administration has not yet decided whether it will maintain this ambitious timeline. According to many specialists, this achievement could be postponed to 2025 or until 2026.

Concerning the “moon landing module,” the US agency has given itself until April 30th to make a decision. The three companies competing are: Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX.

Meanwhile, NASA is still planning to launch the first phase of its program in November 2021 from Launch Complex 39 in Kennedy Space Center (Florida). As part of this mission called Artemis I, the Orion spacecraft (pictured above) will be located on a Block 1 version of NASA’s heavy launcher: Space Launch System (SLS).

During this mission, which should last about 26 days, the Orion capsule will fly to our satellite, then fly over its hidden face at an altitude of about 150 km. The spacecraft will then be injected into a farther back orbit, where it will travel for six days before starting a second pass at low altitude. It will finally be sent back toward Earth for a landing in the Pacific Ocean.