--- title: "NASA Drops Promise to Land “First Woman, Person of Color” on the Moon" description: "Amid Donald Trump and Elon Musk's push to eradicate the woke mind virus, NASA has removed language about its non-white men astronauts. " date: "2025-03-25" modified: "2025-03-25" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-drops-promise-land-woman-poc-moon" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "artemis" - "dei" - "donald trump" - "NASA" --- # NASA Drops Promise to Land “First Woman, Person of Color” on the Moon ![Amid Donald Trump and Elon Musk's push to eradicate the woke mind virus, NASA has removed language about its non-white men astronauts. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* NASA may be still committed to landing the first woman and person of color on the Moon sometime in 2027 as part of its Artemis III mission — but you wouldn't know it by visiting the agency's landing page for the mission, which no longer includes any mentions of "diversity, equity, or inclusion" (DEI) on president Donald Trump's orders. First [spotted]() by British science journalist [Oliver Morton](), NASA's DEI purge has reached the page for its Artemis mission, which [until at least February 28]() included references to the agency's commitment to "land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon." "A giant step back for womankind?" Morton mused. In a [statement to *The Guardian*](), a NASA spokesperson said that the change had been made "in keeping with the president's executive order" — a reference to one of Trump's many [anti-DEI orders]() issued in the first weeks of his new term. Notably, NASA's statement did not indicate whether the agency has planned any changes to the Artemis program, which was [launched during Trump's first term]() and ironically [designed to promote inclusion](). As such, we don't know whether the agency is still planning to send veteran astronauts Christina Koch and Victor Glover, who are female and Black, respectively, on a trip around the Moon and back as part of NASA's Artemis II mission slated for next year. But it's possible they're still on the roster. In a statement to *Futurism*, a NASA spokesperson said that it's "important to note that the change in language does not indicate a change in crew assignments." The crew for NASA's first attempt to land the first astronauts on the Moon in over half a century has yet to be announced. The mission is tentatively scheduled for mid-2027. The latest change is part of a much greater purge of any references to DEI on government websites. Earlier this year, workers at NASA were, as [*404 Media* reported](), ordered to immediately "scrub all \[diversity, equity, and inclusion\] related or DEI adjacent topics and terms from all external websites." Among the terms to be deleted was "anything specifically targeting women," such as "women in leadership." "This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request," the directive read. While the Trump administration's anti-DEI push has touched every corner of government, it's been [particularly intense at NASA]() — possibly because that agency used to be considered a [pioneer in diverse hiring](), dating back to the launch of the Space Shuttle program in the late 1970s. **More on NASA under Trump:** [*NASA Deletes Comic Book About How Women Can Be Astronauts*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()