As part of US President Donald Trump's fight against the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) program, the promise to deliver the first female astronaut, the first non-white astronaut, and the first representative of another country to the moon has disappeared from NASA's website. This is reported by the Eos publication.
The phrase "NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before" was removed from the official Artemis program page.
Interestingly, the idea of including black astronauts and women in the Artemis mission was formalized and voiced... during Donald Trump's previous presidency, in 2019. One of the reasons for this decision was that all 12 Earthlings who visited the surface of the Moon during the Apollo program were exclusively white male US citizens.
The next Artemis mission, Artemis II, is scheduled to launch in April 2026 and orbit the Moon. It will include female astronaut Christina Koch (USA), black astronaut Victor Glover (USA), astronauts Gregory Reid Wiseman (USA) and Jeremy Hansen (Canada), all according to NASA's previous plan. The photo above shows the Artemis II main and backup crew. It is currently unknown whether changes are planned for the Artemis II mission.
To date, 633 people have been in space, 78 of them women (12.3%), 20 black astronauts, and more than 40 representatives of Asian countries.