NASA Rocket To Put First Woman On The Moon By 2024

Get ready for some fantastic news on women and the moon. If researchers have their way, by 2024 we will have the first woman on the moon. A special rocket is being built in a factory in New Orleans, United States as part of the Space Launch System (SLS) for NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program.

"Completion of this first-time build of the Space Launch System rocket's core stages puts humans on the cusp of a new era of space exploration," said John Honeycutt, the SLS Program Manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

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The rocket will be sent to the trajectory of the moon, whereby it will flyby within 60 miles of the surface. The rocket is supposed to enter a distant retrograde orbit that would take Artemis 1 farther compared to any of the Apollo vehicles, NASA said last year. While we don't know yet who will be the first woman to walk on moon, here's how the gender split looks among the astronauts. Of the 38 active astronauts in NASA's astronaut corps, 17 are women.

NASA's latest class of graduating astronauts in a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston saw a diverse and gender-balanced group. They are qualified for space and moon missions expected in the next few years. These are the first to graduate since NASA announced the Artemis program to return to the Moon by 2024.

Key Takeaways:

• NASA under Artemis Mission to launch a rocket under which the first woman and next man will walk on the moon by 2024.
• Rocket's core stage is being built in New Orleans for final testing in Mississippi, United States
• The rocket is part of the Space Launch System (SLS) for NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program.
• This rocket will go under the Green Run test series, run by NASA. However, reports suggest that the launch could be delayed until 2021.
• The rocket will be sent to the trajectory of the moon, whereby it will flyby within 60 miles of the surface.

At the Stennis Space Center, the rocket will go under the Green Run test series, run by NASA. The result of these test series will determine whether the stage is ready to be shipped to the launch site.

After the completion of the test, it is estimated the Artemis 1 will launch in November 2020 from Kennedy Space Center. However, the reports suggest that the launch could be delayed until 2021. The first mission is said to remain unnamed, however, the Orion crew capsule and service modules will be on board. It is believed that the orbit will last between 6 to 20 days, depending on the date of the launch. Whenever it returns to Earth, Artemis 1 will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Astronauts will launch on Artemis 2, the first woman and next man are set to walk on the moon will launch on Artemis 3.

Also Read: NASA Makes History With The First All-Female Spacewalk

History of Women in Space

The first woman in space, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, flew in 1963. Since then space flight programs were slow to employ women, but that's changed now. On October 18th 2019, the first all female spacewalk was conducted by Jessica Meir and Christina Koch. NASA's program Artemis aims to send woman to the moon by 2024.

Gaurika Taneja is an intern with SheThePeople