The NASA Artemis moon-landing project will select a woman for the team, leading to history's first woman on the moon. NASA is currently holding a training program for the Artemis moon landing project with 18 astronauts. Reports suggest that one of the elite astronauts chosen for the mission may include Dr. Jessica Meir, a graduate of Brown University.
Dr. Meir may become the first woman to land on the moon and one of the first people on the moon since Gene Cernan in December of 1972. Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon in July of 1969.
Dr. Meir Looks Forward to Artemis Crew Selection
In a Zoom interview with NBC 10 news, Dr. Meir shared her excitement and honor to potentially be the first woman on the moon and part of this historic mission.
"It is completely a privilege and so humbling to be part of this group," Dr. Meir said on Monday.
Dr. Meir shared that although her name has not been finalized as part of the crew team, she is excited that the selections will include her colleagues and those she knows and has trained with.
"It may even be a colleague or close friend of mine, so the fact that we're there already identifying these individuals and making these concrete steps to go back to the moon is incredibly exciting for us," Dr. Meir added.
Artemis Stages
The Artemis moon-landing project is projected to land the first woman and next crew on the moon by 2024. Dr. Meir shared that the mission will be taken in stages and conclude with landing on the moon.
In her interview with NBC 10, Dr. Meir shared more details of the Artemis mission including the first three stages it will involve.
"We're making those first steps," Dr. Meir said. "Hopefully, if the rest of the testing goes well, we'll have the Artemis I mission, which will first send the rocket and the spacecraft without people for a test, then the Artemis II mission, which will go out around the moon. It will go even further than the Apollo missions, but it won't yet land on the moon."
The moon-landing will take place as part of Artemis III.
Human Space Exploration
A report from the International Business Times suggests that the Artemis mission will be memorable in the history of human space exploration and go beyond the Apollo mission, which ended nearly 50 years ago.
The journey to space will give the astronauts a chance to explore and learn more about earth, the moon, and the solar system. One of the goals of Artemis is to learn more about the moon and take the next step of landing astronauts in Mars.
"That's what drove me to become a scientist and just being so interested in the world around me," Dr. Meir said, referring to the opportunity to explore space at greater lengths.
"And I think it's part of all humans. It's the reason why we explored our own planet earth and found all the continents, and lands masses, and ocean masses."
Dr. Meir has been with NASA since 2013.
