Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Making History With Plan To Send First Woman To The Moon

NASA is planning to send a woman to the moon by the year 2024, according to Bettina Inclán, NASA Communications Director. Only twelve people have ever stepped foot on the moon, and to date, all of them were men.

“The last person walked on the Moon in 1972,” Inclán told CNN. “No woman has ever walked on the lunar surface.”

On Monday, President Trump announced he was expanding the NASA budget, partly to fund the 2024 moon mission.

“Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!” Trump tweeted.

NASA’s 2024 moon mission is named Artemis, the name of the Greek goddess of the moon. In Greek mythology, Artemis is also the twin sister of the god Apollo. Apollo was the name of the first spacecraft to visit the moon.

“I think it is very beautiful that 50 years after Apollo, the Artemis program will carry the next man and the first woman to the Moon,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said. “I have a daughter who is 11 years old, and I want her to be able to see herself in the same role as the next women that go to the Moon.”

The name of the female astronaut who will travel to the moon in 2024 has not been announced yet.